Tourism

PIF sets up company to develop Saudi hotel brands

December 11, 2024, 11:06 AM

Tourists visiting Hegra in Saudi Arabia. PIF describes hotel management company Adeera as a 'national champion' for Saudi tourism

Adeera will build new hotels
Training programmes for Saudis
Goal of 150m annual tourists

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has launched Adeera, a hotel management company.

The aim is to develop homegrown Saudi hotel brands and help the kingdom achieve its goal of attracting 150 million annual tourists.

Adeera has been described as “a national champion” that will build new world-class Saudi hotel brands across the sector, from mid-range to ultra-luxury, and create programmes to train Saudis in the hospitality sector.

Khalid Johar, co-head of local real estate portfolio at PIF, said: “The launch of Adeera comes at a pivotal time when Saudi Arabia is expanding its hospitality and tourism offerings. The company has the opportunity to grow the sector by introducing new hotel brands as the country is establishing itself as a major tourism destination. Adeera’s unique focus on Saudi culture and traditions will provide a distinctive edge.”

Last year, 106 million tourists visited Saudi Arabia, surpassing the kingdom’s 2030 target seven years early and prompting it to set a new goal of welcoming 150 million annual visitors by the end of the decade, the Ministry of Tourism reported in February.

International and domestic visitors spent a combined SAR250 billion ($66 billion) over the course of 2023.

This represents 4 percent of overall GDP and 7 percent of non-oil GDP.

Saudi Arabia launched its National Tourism Strategy five years ago as part of Vision 2030, setting out targets to attract 100 million visitors each year by 2030, increase tourism’s GDP contribution to 10 percent and create one million jobs.

The country is investing more than $800 billion in its main giga-projects by the next decade as part of a tourism expansion strategy focused on affluent visitors from China, India and Europe, tourism minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said in May.