Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing a “transformative time,” with AlUla’s contribution to the overall transformation of Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination, according to Melanie de Souza, the Executive Director Destination Marketing, The Royal Commission for AlUla.
“It is such a transformative time in Saudi Arabia’s history. Both economically and socially, what we are seeing around us is just phenomenal. We have talked about our [AlUla] contribution to the GDP by 2035 being SAR120 billion with 38,000 jobs. Last year, we played host to 263,000 visitors and this year we go up to 291,000 visitors – we are very much in sync with our development of hotel keys and outgoing airline connectivity,” the AlUla executive told Arabian Business.
De Souza’s comments came on the sidelines of the 2024 edition of the Arabian Travel Market.
AlUla ‘omnipresent’ in Saudi tourism to hit 2 million target audience by 2035
De Souza also explained AlUla is “omnipresent” in Saudi tourism to hit a figure of 2 million by 2035 of target audience.
“In terms of our cultural heritage – especially as we go back to 200,000 years of human history and 7,000 year of civilisation – it is fascinating to see how Saudi tourism has embraced our iconic imagery, whether it is Hegra or Maraya. AlUla is very omnipresent in Saudi tourism’s advertising. We have also made the effort to directly talk to our audiences in our voice,” she said adding that the “needed commentary” of AlUla has been “strong” through anecdotal feedback and through the written word – all of which is increasing traction.
As De Souza mentioned earlier, AlUla saw over 263,000 visitors with 65 percent of it being domestic visitors and 35 percent in favour of international visitors. International travellers visited the ancient Arabic oasis mainly from Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
When asked why Europe is paying attention to AlUla in particular, De Souza said: “There are markets like Germany, for whom heritage really indexes very strongly. But, I also think it is proximity when I think about North America.”
The AlUla executive added that India is showing “early signs” of visitation whereas the heritage site is also witnessing an influx of Chinese travellers to AlUla. “I think China and India will be the very strong growth markets in the medium to longer term,” De Souza said.
Saudi Arabia’s AlUla as an international brand
De Souza explained that while AlUla is just at the “start” of its journey, the site has received commentary from credentialed individuals who support an “amazing vision.” She added that there are not many destinations that have the “gravitas” in terms of heritage that hasn’t been offered before.
“We are not only preserving it [AlUla] but also value-adding and embellishing it for generations to come. We have a huge sense of responsibility about this mantle we have assumed to conserve and preserve, and that we are leaving it for people to experience AlUla in a qualitative manner,” she concluded.
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