It’s a victory won hands down. Riyadh will host the 2030 Universal Expo, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) announced on Tuesday, November 28. The Saudi capital received 119 votes against 29 for Pusan (South Korea) and 17 for Rome, easily two thirds of the 165 votes required.
Since Sunday, in Paris, where the BIE vote took place, Saudi Arabia pulled out all the stops. The country rented the Pavillon Vendôme, on the very chic Parisian square of the same name, for four days to promote it. Mint tea, fresh dates and pots of honey were offered to visitors, who strolled among dozens of Saudis wearing shemaghs, this scarf with red and white checkerboard patterns. On the walls, giant screens projected spectacular films of deserts, mountains, camels and oases.
Can the Wahhabi kingdom become a tourist destination like any other? In any case, that’s his ambition. He is also banking on the development of this industry. The challenge: laying the foundations for a new post-oil economy, and “diversify wealth, by exploiting a sector that is still little used”explains the cultural attaché of the Saudi Arabian embassy in France. “For Saudi Arabia, tourism is one of the levers to become a desirable country,” explains Stéphane Durand, consultant specializing in tourism.
Luxury hotel projects are multiplying
The numbers are staggering. The country has committed 800 billion dollars (730 billion euros) to the tourism sector, while “400,000 hotel rooms will soon be made available, 70% of which will be financed by private funds”, underlines the Saudi Tourism Authority. All the major hotel groups are positioning themselves in this market, particularly in Al-Ula, a tourist center currently being created in the middle of the desert, near a Nabataean archaeological site.
Luxury hotel projects are multiplying there. Marriott will open a 250-room hotel there in 2025, “ with four restaurants, spa, pool, fitness center, meeting rooms [et] a business center ». The interests of French companies are well represented there, thanks to the French Agency for the Development of Al-Ula, a discreet structure created by decree in 2018 and chaired by former minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. It must help Saudi Arabia attract two million visitors per year – compared to around 250,000 today – and promote French tourism expertise.
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