Saudi Arabia is focusing heavily on high-end tourism to establish itself as a premier global destination, with plans to invest $800 billion in expanding its tourism sector. The country has partnered with Arsenale Group, known for Italy’s La Dolce Vita Orient Express project, to introduce the Middle East’s first luxury train cruise. The luxury train, dubbed Dream of the Desert, will offer guests a lavish experience, traveling 1,300 kilometers from Riyadh to Al Qurayyat, near the Jordanian border. Though ticket prices are yet to be disclosed, Arsenale’s sister project, La Dolce Vita, offers tickets starting at €9,840 ($10,200) per person for its journeys.
Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector, still in its early stages, is targeting the upscale market, with two-thirds of the 320,000 hotel rooms planned by 2030 classified as “upscale” or “luxury.” According to consultant Knight Frank, the focus on top-tier brands helps create global awareness and demand for the Saudi tourism industry, which was relatively unknown until recent efforts to diversify the economy away from oil.
While the current emphasis is on high-end tourism, including investments in cultural sites like AlUla and futuristic resorts like Neom, experts suggest that Saudi Arabia will eventually need to broaden its appeal to middle-income tourists to sustain long-term growth. This shift will be crucial as the country prepares to host the World Expo in 2030 and the Fifa World Cup in 2034, along with potential bids for other major global events like the 2036 Olympics.
In parallel, Saudi Arabia is rapidly expanding its hotel capacity, adding an average of 53,000 hotel rooms per year, and working on boosting its air-transport capacity to accommodate a projected 300 million air passengers by 2030. As Saudi Arabia positions itself as a major tourism player, experts expect a gradual expansion of offerings to cater to a wider range of visitors, similar to the evolution of Dubai’s tourism market in recent years.
