Saudi Arabia offers up rich heritage

Riyadh

Over the course of history, cities tend to make a name for themselves and can be described in a few words. While Dubai is known as the City of Gold, and Paris the City of Love, Riyadh is making a name for itself as the City of Welcome. Speaking to Gulf News in Riyadh on the sidelines of Saudi Arabia’s announcement to launch tourism visas to the Kingdom, Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive officer of Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), explained how the giga project of Ad Diriyah will become the focal point for ecotourism and heritage in the region.

Ad Diriyah

Located northwest of Riyadh, Ad Diriyah is home to the Unesco heritage site of At-Turaif District — the first capital of the Saudi Dynasty.

“The first immediate project that visitors can look forward to in 2020 is that we will introduce and open the world officially to the Unesco world heritage site of At-Turaif. King Salman has spent the last 20 years restoring it and it is breathtakingly gorgeous.”

The first phase of Ad Diriyah is expected to be completed by 2023, and with it, will be eight new museums, including the largest Islamic museum in the world — the new House of Al Saud, in addition to 30 new hotels and over 100 different entertainment activities.

The Red Sea Project

The Red Sea project is one of the world’s most ambitious luxury tourism development projects, which aims to set new standards in sustainable development while maintaining the natural environment.

Covering 28,000 square kilometres, a bit smaller than the size of Belgium, the Red Sea Project on the western coast of Saudi Arabia includes 200km of coastline and an archipelago of 90 untouched islands, volcanoes, desert, mountains, natural treasures and a variety of wildlife.

John Pagano, CEO of the Red Sea Development Company, told Gulf News that a significant first phase of the project will open in 2022.

“The Red Sea has an amazing natural environment has the fourth-largest coral reef system in the world, but significantly, it is one of the only coral reef systems that is still thriving today, despite global warming and bleaching events.”

By the backend of 2022, we will open up around 3,000 hotel keys, brand new airport and all the enabling infrastructure. Given that our focus is on sustainability and environmental conservation, we are going to be using 100 per cent renewable energy 24 hours a day,” he pointed out.

Hotel industry boom

Representing one of the first international hotel chains to have opened in Makkah back in 1993, Rudi Jagersbacher, president of Hilton in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, explained how the hotel industry will shift from capturing religious tourism to the current tourism market today.

“You have similar barriers in terms of visas, behavioural styles and services, but what’s important is the recruitment of human capital,” said Jagersbacher.

“We can already see the enjoyment of local communities to remain in Saudi rather than going to different destinations on holidays because of the various changes that have taken place.”