SAUDI ARABIA. Welcome to Saudi Travel & Tourism Ecosystem, the latest launch from The Moodie Davitt Report, the world’s leading travel retail publisher, writes Martin Moodie.
As the name suggests, this publication – and the website it will spawn in coming weeks – is focused on a much broader commercial landscape than our traditional travel retail titles embrace.
We seek to create a pioneering and insightful B2B exploration of one of the world’s most exciting aviation, tourism, hospitality, leisure, retail and travel-related revenues markets – each of those sectors interlinked by the consumer they serve, the domestic or international traveller.
Why have we singled out Saudi Arabia for such dedicated coverage? Simple. The pace of change and the ambition that underpins that change are, we think, unrivalled in the aviation and tourism world. All this is being driven by Vision 2030, a powerful and transformative economic and social reform blueprint that is opening Saudi Arabia up to the world and within which tourism – sustainable and regenerative tourism – plays a pivotal role.
I recently visited the Kingdom for the first time. It will not be the last. Although my experience was confined to a week in the vibrant capital, Riyadh, I saw and heard enough to know that I will return time and again.
At the Future Hospitality Summit in Riyadh, I was privileged to listen to Jerry Inzerillo, Group CEO at Diriyah Gate Authority and John Pagano, Chief Executive Officer at The Red Sea Development Company and AMAALA. These extraordinary giga-projects will capture the imagination of the world, not just for their astonishing scale and their combination of natural wonders and sympathetic development, but for a new, more empathetic mode of tourism that they will offer.
Before they discover such attractions, international visitors must of course first enter Saudi Arabia through the Kingdom’s airports. This issue’s cover story is dedicated to Riyadh Airports Company, which is masterminding an impressive transformation of King Khalid International Airport befitting the gateway to – and last impression of – this historic, fast-evolving and too often misunderstood country.
We hope to bring positive exposure to such projects and to the Kingdom as a whole, to chronicle an extraordinary evolution and to capture the excitement that goes with it. We trust you enjoy Saudi Travel & Tourism Ecosystem.
Note: For your complimentary subscription to Saudi Travel & Tourism Ecosystem each quarter, please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com headed ‘Saudi Report’.
