Tourism Breaking News
Expanding its roster of collaborators, the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation to establish luxury hotels across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The collaboration aims to develop several hospitality-led destinations which will enhance the tourism offering in Saudi Arabia. These destinations may include beach and urban hotels, as well as mountain, desert and farm retreats. They will be developed under Hyatt’s existing trademarks, such as Alila Resorts, which offer an authentic wellness destination experience, or other trademarks such as Park Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Grand Hyatt and any other Hyatt brands mutually agreed upon by the entities. The development of these hotels would be part of the Kingdom’s National Tourism Strategy and in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
Commenting on the agreement, CEO of the Tourism Development Fund Qusai Al-Fakhri, said, “We are joining forces with many legacy brands in the tourism, hospitality, and business travel segments as we continue to thoughtfully expand our roster of collaborators. This collaboration with Hyatt will help us to attract tourists and ensure that they receive a comfortable, high-quality experience in the Kingdom’s top tourism destinations.”
Hyatt has one of the world’s largest portfolios of hotels and resorts, focused on the high-end travellers in each segment that it serves, and is continually growing its brand footprint. It has established an industry-leading luxury, lifestyle, and leisure portfolio across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which is significantly contributing to its global expansion.
Regional Vice President, Development – Middle East and Africa at Hyatt Ludwig Bouldoukian, said, “Saudi Arabia is the largest emerging market in the Middle East and has made significant advances across sectors to springboard its economy. The country has been recognized as one of the world’s fastest growing tourism destinations and we see this as a great opportunity to expand Hyatt’s brand footprint while providing exquisite service and care to local and international high-end travellers.”
Since 2020, a year after Saudi Arabia opened its doors to international tourists, TDF has been the primary vehicle for promoting tourism investment in the country, with the objective of attracting one hundred million tourists by 2030. The fund intends to provide financial resources and expertise to entrepreneurs worldwide looking to invest in the ten key destinations across Saudi Arabia that offer huge prospects across the tourism value chain.
Tareq A. Al-Sadhan, CEO, Riyad Bank, added: “NEOM represents an incredible opportunity for our organization to play a small part in helping make this exciting project a reality. We are proud to be the first financial institution to partner with Sindalah and are confident in the prospect of their future success.”
Rayan Fayez, Deputy CEO, NEOM said: “The Sindalah debt financing signifies NEOM’s desire to diversify its funding sources, involve the private sector and attract capital of all types in the development of NEOM. We have a number of projects currently underway, and in the pipeline, that represent very attractive commercial opportunities for the global financial community to participate in.”
