AlUla exceeding international tourists target, reveals top official 

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Updated 23 January 2024
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AlUla exceeding international tourists target, reveals top official 

RIYADH: The visitor count to one of Saudi Arabia’s most treasured tourist spots AlUla exceeded expectations in 2023, according to its chief tourism officer.

This involved a greater share of international tourists than anticipated, in a sign that the project is gathering momentum.

Speaking to Arab News at the Saudi Tourism Forum in Riyadh, Phillip Jones admitted that the Royal Commission for AlUla has been surprised by how quickly the global tourism industry has embraced the project.

AlUla is home to historical and archaeological sites that trace more than 200,000 years of human history, and has been dubbed “the world’s largest cultural oasis” by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Reflecting on the success of attracting tourists to the site, Jones said: “We thought it would take us more than 10 years to get to a split of 40 percent international and 60 percent domestic and regional (tourists). This year we’re 35 percent international and 65 percent domestic and regional (tourists).”

He added: “Our goal (for 2023) was to reach 250,000 visitors from (2022’s) 185,000. We exceeded it.”

He highlighted that the two most prominent groups were “friends traveling together and families traveling together” including an increase in the number of visitors “coming from non-traditional markets” such as Asia, Northern Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

He explained that the aim is to “make it more of a year-round destination.”

To expand the recognition of AlUla beyond Saudi Arabia and the region, Jones said that the commission was launching a “global branding campaign” by the end of February as “our next evolution of telling our story” including a series of events in Paris, London, and New York, as well as Dubai, Mumbai and Shanghai.

According to the chief tourism officer, RCU moved out of its “planning phase” at the end of 2023 to its “development” one with hotels, restaurants and other attractions being announced.

This included building an airport with 15 gates and a state-of-the-art terminal, and new airlines that will be revealed in February 2024.

He said: “Over the next five years, you’re going to see a couple of thousand new hotel rooms, several new museums and other cultural assets being delivered. And then you’re going to see some big announcements coming in terms of how we then take it to the next level for phase three.”

Two events that are coming up are a concert by singer Andrea Bocelli, who will be performing at the Maraya venue, and the cycling competition of the AlUla Tour, where 350 riders from around the world will take part.

Jones stressed that 52 percent of the employees working in AlUla’s hotels are residents of the Kingdom, adding: “We’re seeing more opportunity for Saudis to fill those jobs and generate the economic impact.

“One of the things we’ll be doing is opening the AlUla Academy next month, will be training frontline employees for those jobs in hotels, restaurants, other visitor assets across the destination so that we have some of the best trained employees who really understand the importance of providing that unique Saudi hospitality to our visitors.”

The chief tourism officer explained that the ratio of female to male employees was “almost 50/50” as they were “working really hard to try and make sure that that happens because in a lot of the young entrepreneurs in AlUla are female-owned businesses, and we’re seeing a lot of startup businesses that are female-owned, and that’s something we’re quite proud of and we’re going to continue to promote and push that.”

Jones emphasized their efforts in encouraging the private sector and entrepreneurs to use AlUla as an opportunity to try out “a destination that is probably a bit more advanced to some of the other giga-projects” and so “we’re happy to be sort of that test case for many of these companies.”

He said: “We have a very aggressive master plan. We have five master plans that we’re working toward fulfilling. The first is Journey Through Time, which connects all the five regions in the five different civilizations that left their mark in AlUla. So we're well on our way with master plan one. Now we’re also working on master plan two, three and four, and then master plan five is the Sharaan Nature Reserve.”

Jones revealed that over 2,000 animals were introduced into the Sharaan Nature Reserve this year, and a visitor center is being built on the site.

“We just opened our new visitor center in AlUla. So we are doing a lot of the basics that we need to be successful in the long run,” he added.

Jones said RCU has been sticking to its “cultural manifesto” launched four years ago in Paris which laid the foundations for their commitment to sustainability across the entire ecosystem of AlUla.

He said: “When you go and look at the projects we built, you can see our commitment to sustainability – embracing wind, embracing solar, making sure that we transition the economy away from just oil and gas.”

Jones added: “You will see sustainability is one of the pillars of the development strategy for AlUla.”

The RCU’s tourism head concluded by noting: “As we continue to evolve the destination, it’s one of those sort of unique places that reinvents itself every year, adding to the uniqueness, but also adding experiences that they can only be found in AlUla across the Kingdom.”


Pakistan stock market breaches 130,000 barrier amid low inflation, surging oil prices

Updated 02 July 2025
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Pakistan stock market breaches 130,000 barrier amid low inflation, surging oil prices

  • Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index closes at 130,244.03 points, surging by 2,144.61 or gaining 1.67% from previous day
  • Latest milestone builds on strong showing in the previous fiscal year, when the KSE-100 Index rose by 60 percent

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index breached the 130,000 points barrier to close at an all-time high on Wednesday, as financial analysts attributed the surge to low inflation and surging crude oil prices. 

The development takes place a day after Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index closed at an impressive 128,199.42 points on the first day of the new fiscal year, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling the stocks’ performance a sign of growing investor confidence in the economy and government policies. The latest milestone builds on a strong showing in the previous fiscal year, when the KSE-100 Index rose by 60 percent, according to Karachi-based Topline Securities.

The Pakistani stock market closed at 130,344.03 points when trading ended on Wednesday. Continuing its bullish momentum, the index surged by 2,144.61 points, recording a gain of 1.67 percent from the previous day’s close. 

“Stocks closed at new all-time high in the earning season at PSX as investors weigh drop in CPI inflation to 3.2 percent YoY and upbeat data on POL sales surging by 7pc for June 25,” Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Commodities Limited, said. 

Mehanti said higher global equities and Pakistani power regulatory authority’s recent move to slash the base power tariff for industries for the current fiscal year also played a role in the bullish close. He also paid credit to surging crude oil prices, saying they had played a “catalyst role” in the surge.

Karachi-based brokerage firm Topline Securities said the surge was fueled by “aggressive institutional buying” and a wave of fresh fiscal-year optimism among investors. 

“With the index in uncharted territory, all eyes are now on earnings season and macro signals to see if the bulls have more steam left or if a breather is around the corner,” it said in a statement.

Pakistan’s stocks surge as Islamabad seeks to consolidate its financial recovery after years of economic turbulence.

In recent years, the country has undertaken difficult structural reforms under International Monetary Fund loan programs aimed at curbing fiscal deficits and restoring investor trust.


Global oil demand rose 1.5% in 2024 despite production dip: OPEC report

Updated 02 July 2025
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Global oil demand rose 1.5% in 2024 despite production dip: OPEC report

RIYADH: Global oil demand climbed by 1.49 million barrels per day, or 1.5 percent, year on year in 2024 to reach an average of 103.84 million bpd, according to newly released data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Demand rose across nearly all regions, with the strongest gains recorded in non-OECD Asia, particularly China and India, followed by the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and OECD Europe. Within OPEC member countries, oil demand rose by 0.12 million bpd, or 1.3 percent, year on year.

However, total world crude oil production declined for the first time since 2020, falling by 0.77 million bpd, or 1 percent, to average 72.58 million bpd in 2024. OPEC attributed the drop to lower output from both its members and non-OPEC producers participating in the Declaration of Cooperation.

OPEC nations cut production by 0.57 million bpd, or 2.1 percent, while non-OPEC DoC participants saw a steeper decline of 0.78 million bpd, or 5.2 percent. In contrast, crude production from countries not involved in the DoC rose by 0.58 million bpd, or 1.8 percent.

Refining capacity

Global refining capacity increased by 1.04 million bpd in 2024 to reach 103.80 million bpd. Most of this expansion came from the non-OECD region, notably China, India, and the Middle East.

For the first time since 2019, members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also saw a modest increase in refining capacity—up by 0.16 million bpd—driven by additions in the Americas, although partially offset by closures in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Refinery throughput also saw a modest rise, growing by 0.52 million bpd, or 0.6 percent, to 85.97 million bpd. This was largely due to increased run rates in OECD Americas and non-OECD regions, including the Middle East, Africa, India, and Other Asia.

Exports down, product shipments up

OPEC’s crude oil exports declined by 0.70 million bpd, or 3.5 percent, in 2024 to average 19.01 million bpd. Asia continued to be the primary destination for OPEC crude, receiving 13.67 million bpd, or 71.9 percent of total exports.

In contrast, exports of petroleum products from OPEC members rose by 0.29 million bpd, or 6.1 percent, reaching an average of 5.07 million bpd during the year.

Global proven crude oil reserves stood at 1,567 billion barrels at the end of 2024, marking a slight increase of 2 billion barrels, or 0.1 percent, from the previous year. Proven reserves in OPEC members remained unchanged at 1,241 billion barrels.


Gulf bourses end mixed on US tariff uncertainty

Updated 02 July 2025
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Gulf bourses end mixed on US tariff uncertainty

  • Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index edged 0.1% higher
  • Dubai’s main share index dropped 0.4%

LONDON: Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Wednesday as investors monitored global trade developments ahead of the US’ potential re-imposition of sweeping tariffs on July 9. 

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not thinking of extending the July 9 deadline for countries to negotiate trade deals with the US, and continued to express doubt that an agreement could be reached with Japan. 

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index edged 0.1 percent higher, after two consecutive sessions of losses, helped by 1.7 percent rise in Saudi Arabian Mining Company. 

The cautious mood dominating the region contributed to mixed sector performances, said Joseph Dahrieh, managing principal at Tickmill. 

“Investors are awaiting further developments to gain more clarity, while low oil prices continue to pose a risk, despite a positive economic outlook,” he said. 

Among gainers, oil giant Saudi Aramco rose 0.8 percent. 

Oil futures edged up as Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and markets weighed expectations of more supply from major producers next month, while the US dollar softened further. 

Dubai’s main share index dropped 0.4 percent, hit by a 1.3 percent fall in toll operator Salik Company. 

Separately, Dubai commuters may soon have a new way to beat traffic, as Joby Aviation successfully completed the first test flight of its fully-electric air taxi in the emirate this week — a significant step toward the city’s goal of integrating airborne transport into its mobility network as early as next year. 

In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1 percent, while the Qatari index closed flat. 

A report on Tuesday suggested that the US labor market stayed resilient in May, sharpening the focus on US nonfarm payrolls figures due on Thursday as investors try to gauge when the Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates next. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday reiterated the US central bank’s plans to “wait and learn more” before lowering rates. 

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index added 0.4 percent, with Talaat Moustafa Holding rising 0.9 percent. 


Closing Bell: Saudi main index inches up to close at 11,129

Updated 02 July 2025
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Closing Bell: Saudi main index inches up to close at 11,129

  • MSCI Tadawul 30 Index gained 0.24% to finish at 1,423.94
  • Parallel market Nomu increased 0.48% to settle at 27,375.84

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index gained 8.04 points, or 0.07, to close at 11,129.64 on Wednesday. 

Total trading turnover reached SR5.41 billion ($1.44 billion), with 103 stocks posting gains and 140 declining. 

The Kingdom’s parallel market, Nomu, also recorded an increase, gaining 130.72 points, or 0.48 percent, to settle at 27,375.84, as 32 stocks advanced and 41 retreated.

The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index also gained 3.34 points, or 0.24 percent, to finish at 1,423.94. 

BAAN Holding Group Co. was the best-performing stock of the session, with its share price rising 9.73 percent to SR2.48. Saudi Industrial Export Co. followed with a 7.66 percent increase to SR2.39. 

Other gainers included Almunajem Foods Co., which rose to a fresh year high on Wednesday, closing at SR77 with a 5.77 percent increase. 

On the losing side, Buruj Cooperative Insurance Co. saw the steepest decline, falling 3.24 percent to SR17.92. Saudi Industrial Development Co. dropped 3.07 percent to SR30.9, and National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia declined 3.06 percent to SR23.75. 

On the announcements front, Saudi Arabian Mining Co., also known as Ma’aden, finalized its acquisition of all shares owned by AWA Saudi and Alcoa Saudi in two of its major subsidiaries, according to a statement on the Saudi Stock Exchange.

The move follows the approval by Ma’aden’s extraordinary general assembly on June 25 to increase the company’s capital through a share issuance as consideration for acquiring the remaining stakes in Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Co. and Ma’aden Aluminium Co.

According to Ma’aden, the acquisition was made effective, and share allocation procedures were completed on July 1. The newly issued shares were deposited in favor of AWA Saudi and Alcoa Saudi, with the holdings officially listed on the same day.

The acquisition involved Ma’aden purchasing AWA Saudi’s entire stake in Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Co., totaling 128,010,000 ordinary shares — equivalent to 25.1 percent of the company’s issued capital.

It also included Alcoa Saudi’s full shareholding in Ma’aden Aluminium Co., amounting to 165,001,125 ordinary shares, or 25.1 percent of the company’s issued capital.

To execute the transaction, Ma’aden increased its capital from SR38.03 billion to SR38.89 billion — a 2.26 percent rise. As a result, the total number of its ordinary shares grew from 3.80 billion to 3.89 billion.

Under the new share distribution, Alcoa Saudi received 67,612,162 new ordinary shares, representing 1.74 percent of Ma’aden’s post-acquisition capital, while AWA Saudi received 18,365,385, or 0.47 percent of the capital.

Additionally, Ma’aden paid AWA Saudi SR562.5 million in cash as part of the transaction. The company emphasized that the acquisition does not involve any related parties.

The financial implications of the deal will be reflected in Ma’aden’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30. 

Ma’aden’s share price closed 1.72 percent higher to reach SR53.25.

Saudi National Bank announced its plan to redeem its SR2 billion tier-1 capital sukuk in full on July 15, marking the 10th anniversary of the instrument’s issuance.

The sukuk, which was launched on July 15, 2015, will be redeemed at face value — 100 percent of the issue price — in accordance with the terms and conditions set at issuance, the bank stated in a press release published on Tadawul.

The move follows Saudi National Bank’s securing of the necessary regulatory approval to proceed with the redemption. The full principal amount, along with any accrued but unpaid periodic distributions, will be paid to sukuk holders on the redemption date.

The SR2 billion sukuk issuance comprised 2,000 certificates, each with a face value of SR1 million. It represented 100 percent of the issued sukuk under this offering. Following the redemption, the total value of the sukuk issuance will be reduced to zero.

This redemption reflects the bank’s capital management strategy and its ongoing commitment to optimizing its financial structure.

The bank’s share price closed 0.34 percent higher on Wednesday’s session to SR35.84.


International visitor spending in Saudi Arabia hits $13bn in Q1 

Updated 02 July 2025
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International visitor spending in Saudi Arabia hits $13bn in Q1 

  • Rise pushed Kingdom’s travel account surplus to SR26.78 billion
  • Saudi Arabia welcomed 115.9 million tourists in 2024

RIYADH: International tourists spent SR49.37 billion ($13.16 billion) in Saudi Arabia during the first quarter of 2025, a 10 percent increase compared to the same period last year, recent data showed. 

According to figures released by the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, the rise pushed the Kingdom’s travel account surplus to SR26.78 billion, up 11.7 percent year on year, underlining the sector’s growing contribution to the country’s non-oil economy. 

This comes as Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 push to position tourism as a pillar of economic diversification, raising its target to 150 million annual visitors by 2030 after surpassing the 100 million mark ahead of schedule. 

In 2024, the sector hit a milestone, with international tourism revenue soaring 148 percent from 2019 — the fastest growth among G20 nations. 

Domestic trips almost doubled, according to the annual report figures, rising from 47.8 million to 86.2 million. Shuttertsock

Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb, commenting on the sector’s performance following the release of the Ministry of Tourism’s 2024 Annual Statistical Report in June, said the document “showcases the sector’s remarkable growth and its role in enabling Saudi Vision 2030, a record performance achieved with the support and guidance of the Kingdom’s visionary leadership.” 

The report said that Saudi Arabia welcomed 115.9 million tourists in 2024 — 29.7 million inbound and 86.2 million domestic trips — easily surpassing the Vision 2030 milestone of 100 million visits, five years ahead of schedule. 

Total visitor spending reached SR283.8 billion, of which SR168.5 billion came from international travelers and SR115.3 billion from domestic tourists. 

Since Vision 2030’s launch, Saudi tourism has expanded at breakneck speed. Inbound arrivals have climbed from 17.5 million in 2019 to 29.7 million in 2024, a 70 percent jump, while their spending ballooned by 63 percent, from SR103.4 billion to SR168.5 billion over the same period. 

Domestic trips almost doubled, according to the annual report figures, rising from 47.8 million to 86.2 million over the same period. 

The sector’s success is underpinned by multibillion-riyal investments in destination infrastructure. The first island resorts of the Red Sea Project will open later this year, while construction races ahead at NEOM’s Trojena mountain resort and Riyadh’s heritage-rich Diriyah Gate. 

The Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA. Wikipedia

Developers are lining up more than 320,000 hotel rooms, and Red Sea International Airport is expected to start commercial flights in 2025, sharpening long-haul connectivity for high-end travelers. 

Global recognition has followed, with UN Tourism data, cited in the Annual Statistical Report, showing Saudi Arabia ranked first among G20 nations for growth in international tourist numbers in 2024 and second globally compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

Speaking in April 2024, Ahmad Arab, founder of tourism and hospitality firm DRB Arabia and former deputy minister at the Ministry of Tourism, told GLG Insights the industry is on track to create 1 million related jobs by 2030, solidifying its place as a cornerstone of the Kingdom’s diversifying non-oil economy. 

A notable trend, according to the Ministry of Tourism’s annual report, is the shift toward leisure travel. Non-religious visits accounted for 59 percent of inbound arrivals in 2024, up from 44 percent in 2019, as streamlined e-visas, entertainment seasons, and high-profile sporting events broadened the Kingdom’s appeal. 

Egypt remained the top source market with 3.2 million visitors, followed by Pakistan with 2.8 million and Bahrain with 2.6 million. Makkah Al-Mukarramah led all destinations with 17.4 million overnight foreign visitors, while Riyadh and Jeddah also attracted millions. 

Domestic tourism is expanding in parallel: trips rose 5 percent to 86.2 million in 2024, fueling record domestic outlays of SR115.3 billion. Leisure remained the top purpose, helped by school-holiday campaigns and new regional festivals. 

With first-quarter spending at an all-time high and visitor volumes already outpacing long-term targets, Riyadh’s next challenge is to sustain capacity growth while maintaining service quality.