RIYADH: The customer depend to one in all Saudi Arabia’s most treasured vacationer spots AlUla exceeded expectations in 2023, based on its chief tourism officer.
This concerned a higher share of worldwide vacationers than anticipated, in an indication that the mission is gathering momentum.
Chatting with Arab Information on the Saudi Tourism Discussion board in Riyadh, Phillip Jones admitted that the Royal Fee for AlUla has been shocked by how shortly the worldwide tourism trade has embraced the mission.
AlUla is house to historic and archaeological websites that hint greater than 200,000 years of human historical past, and has been dubbed “the world’s largest cultural oasis” by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Reflecting on the success of attracting vacationers to the location, Jones stated: “We thought it will take us greater than 10 years to get to a cut up of 40 p.c worldwide and 60 p.c home and regional (vacationers). This yr we’re 35 p.c worldwide and 65 p.c home and regional (vacationers).”
He added: “Our objective (for 2023) was to achieve 250,000 guests from (2022’s) 185,000. We exceeded it.”
He highlighted that the 2 most outstanding teams had been “pals touring collectively and households touring collectively” together with a rise within the variety of guests “coming from non-traditional markets” comparable to Asia, Northern Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
He defined that the purpose is to “make it extra of a year-round vacation spot.”
To develop the popularity of AlUla past Saudi Arabia and the area, Jones stated that the fee was launching a “international branding marketing campaign” by the top of February as “our subsequent evolution of telling our story” together with a collection of occasions in Paris, London, and New York, in addition to Dubai, Mumbai and Shanghai.
In response to the chief tourism officer, RCU moved out of its “planning part” on the finish of 2023 to its “growth” one with inns, eating places and different sights being introduced.
This included constructing an airport with 15 gates and a state-of-the-art terminal, and new airways that shall be revealed in February 2024.
He stated: “Over the following 5 years, you’re going to see a few thousand new resort rooms, a number of new museums and different cultural property being delivered. And then you definitely’re going to see some massive bulletins coming when it comes to how we then take it to the following degree for part three.”
Two occasions which might be developing are a live performance by singer Andrea Bocelli, who shall be performing on the Maraya venue, and the biking competitors of the AlUla Tour, the place 350 riders from all over the world will participate.
Jones harassed that 52 p.c of the staff working in AlUla’s inns are residents of the Kingdom, including: “We’re seeing extra alternative for Saudis to fill these jobs and generate the financial impression.
“One of many issues we’ll be doing is opening the AlUla Academy subsequent month, shall be coaching frontline workers for these jobs in inns, eating places, different customer property throughout the vacation spot in order that we’ve got a few of the greatest skilled workers who actually perceive the significance of offering that distinctive Saudi hospitality to our guests.”
The chief tourism officer defined that the ratio of feminine to male workers was “virtually 50/50” as they had been “working actually exhausting to attempt to be sure that that occurs as a result of in plenty of the younger entrepreneurs in AlUla are female-owned companies, and we’re seeing plenty of startup companies which might be female-owned, and that’s one thing we’re fairly pleased with and we’re going to proceed to advertise and push that.”
Jones emphasised their efforts in encouraging the non-public sector and entrepreneurs to make use of AlUla as a chance to check out “a vacation spot that’s in all probability a bit extra superior to a few of the different giga-projects” and so “we’re comfortable to be form of that check case for a lot of of those corporations.”
He stated: “We’ve got a really aggressive grasp plan. We’ve got 5 grasp plans that we’re working towards fulfilling. The primary is Journey Via Time, which connects all of the 5 areas within the 5 totally different civilizations that left their mark in AlUla. So we’re effectively on our method with grasp plan one. Now we’re additionally engaged on grasp plan two, three and 4, after which grasp plan 5 is the Sharaan Nature Reserve.”
Jones revealed that over 2,000 animals had been launched into the Sharaan Nature Reserve this yr, and a customer heart is being constructed on the location.
“We simply opened our new customer heart in AlUla. So we’re doing plenty of the fundamentals that we must be profitable in the long term,” he added.
Jones stated RCU has been sticking to its “cultural manifesto” launched 4 years in the past in Paris which laid the foundations for his or her dedication to sustainability throughout the whole ecosystem of AlUla.
He stated: “While you go and take a look at the tasks we constructed, you may see our dedication to sustainability – embracing wind, embracing photo voltaic, ensuring that we transition the economic system away from simply oil and gasoline.”
Jones added: “You will note sustainability is without doubt one of the pillars of the event technique for AlUla.”
The RCU’s tourism head concluded by noting: “As we proceed to evolve the vacation spot, it’s a type of form of distinctive locations that reinvents itself yearly, including to the distinctiveness, but in addition including experiences that they will solely be present in AlUla throughout the Kingdom.”
