Saudi arabia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in saudi arabia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
Travel, Tourism, and Entertainment
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Overview 

Travel, Tourism, and Entertainment is a priority sector under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification initiative. The Saudi Arabian government aims to increase domestic household spending related to entertainment and leisure activities, and to transform the country into a major global travel destination. The original Vision 2030 target of 100 million visitors was surpassed seven years ahead of schedule. Saudi Arabia has since raised its ambition, now targeting 150 million annual visitors by 2030. 

The entertainment sector’s growth reflects the remarkable ongoing social change in Saudi Arabia. Since lifting the ban on cinemas in 2018, Saudi Arabia has targeted a goal of 300 theaters with 2,000 screens by 2030; as of 2024, there were over 600 operational screens. The 2024 Red Sea International Film Festival showcased 122 films from 85 countries. Saudi Arabia established a Media City in Riyadh to launch a multiservice media ecosystem to support and enable content and talent creation. Media and content creation has been hindered by a lack of transparency around media regulation. For more information on the Media Law, please see “Market Challenges”.

The opening of the entertainment sector has spurred an ambitious construction pipeline of movie theatres, theme parks, largescale live events, and sports-related infrastructure. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has heavily invested in entertainment companies in recent years, including Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive Software and Live Nation. Moreover, the growth of Saudi Seasons – an annual series of festivals across cities offering pop concerts, car races, pop-up restaurants, auto shows, and other entertainment programs – indicates the pent-up demand in this sector. 
In January 2025, the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) and the Ministry of Investment launched 29 investment opportunities in the entertainment sector on the “Invest Saudi” platform, signaling a shift from a state-funded to facilitator model. The Saudi Arabian entertainment sector continued its growth trajectory in 2024, with 76.9 million visitors to 423 entertainment destinations. The General Entertainment Authority issued 5,526 licenses in 2024, a slight increase from 5,337 in 2023. 

Saudi Arabia advanced its goals in tourism and entertainment, successfully winning bids to host World Expo 2030 in Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA World Cup at stadiums across Saudi Arabia. These global events promise to draw massive international audiences, boosting the sector’s growth and development.
On the tourism front, Saudi Arabia has opened rapidly and is increasingly developing destinations across the country to welcome visitors. To this end, it has implemented numerous initiatives including an e-visa system for citizens of 66 countries, the opening of its UNESCO World Heritage sites, the construction of resorts on its Red Sea coast, and the launch of a cruise line. In October 2021 the Ministry of Tourism announced a $1 trillion investment package for the sector over the next 10 years.  In March 2024, the Ministry of Tourism unveiled the Tourism Investment Enabler Program (TIEP) to boost the tourism sector by facilitating private investments. Amid rapid growth, Saudi Arabia’s tourism infrastructure remains underdeveloped, presenting significant opportunities for hotel operators, tour companies, and hospitality/tourism training, both in main metropolises like Riyadh and Jeddah, UNESCO sites like Al Ula and Al Hasa, and the burgeoning tourism region of Aseer, among others.

Saudi Arabia is investing billions in sports teams, infrastructure, and events at home and abroad, from football to golf to Formula 1 to video games. The Kingdom’s sports strategy, implemented primarily by the Public Investment Fund, is a key pillar of the Vision 2030 program to diversify the economy and transform the country’s social structure.

Key Players in this Sector

  • Ministry of Tourism: The Ministry oversees tourism policy and development.
  • Saudi Tourism Authority: The official promoter of Visit Saudi, this government entity was established to support the growth of the travel and tourism sector by serving the needs of tourism companies and other commercial partners. 
  • Tourism Development Fund: This fund is responsible for attracting and supporting investments and providing the support to incentivize development of the tourism ecosystem.
  • General Entertainment Authority: This government entity’s mandate is to develop the entertainment sector and its infrastructure. 
  • Saudi Entertainment Ventures (SEVEN): The entity is the implementation and investment arm of the Public Investment Fund dedicated to the entertainment sector. 
  • General Authority for Media Regulation: This commission is tasked with the development, regulation, and supervision of audio-visual media transmission and content within the country.
  • Ministry of Culture and Culture Commissions:  This ministry is focused on developing Saudi Arabia’s visual arts, performing arts, film and music.
  • Ministry of Sport: This ministry is responsible for sports in Saudi Arabia. It was previously known as the General Sports Authority. 
  • Saudi Convention & Exhibition General Authority: This authority is concerned with developing the exhibitions and conferences industry to make Saudi an international center for exhibitions.

Leading Sub-sectors

Religious Tourism

Currently religious tourism remains the largest economic contributor in the tourism sector. To increase the benefits that stem from religious pilgrimages, the government aims to increase its capacity to accommodate more Hajj and Umrah visitors – from approximately 10 million visitors per year in 2019 to over 30 million by 2030. This is expected to increase the demand for hotels and other tourist services in Mecca and Medina. An estimated 221,000 hotel rooms have been announced or are under construction in the two cities. Additionally, given the large number of visitors, there are opportunities for companies specializing in crowd management.

Resort Destinations 

Saudi Arabia has aggressively pursued development of world-class luxury resorts, particularly within its giga-project developments. Red Sea Global aims to be a world-class tourism destination offering pristine beaches, leisure and entertainment amenities, natural reserve of marine life, and dormant volcanoes and mountains. As of early 2025, five hotels are operational. Phase One, which includes a total of 16 hotels, is on track to be fully completed during 2025. The Red Sea International Airport (RSI) began receiving international flights in April 2024 and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025. Once completed, the Red Sea Project will have about 50 hotels, with more than 8,000 hotel rooms. The project is in a special economic zone, with its own legislative and regulatory system, strategic location, and streamlined visa requirements to ensure the destination is inviting to travelers throughout the year, who are expected to reach one million a year by 2035. Additional resorts are under development within NEOM – both on the Red Sea and at the mountain resort region Trojena, however these have experienced delays with companies reporting late payments.

Cultural Heritage Sites    

Saudi Arabia is increasingly developing historical and heritage sites across the country, with several UNESCO sites already recognized and additional tentative sites under review. The city of Al Ula, home to Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in the northwestern region of the country and features historical and cultural assets such as Hegra, the second largest Nabatean heritage site after Jordan’s Petra, as well as remains from other ancient civilizations. The Saudi government is transforming the city into a cultural, art, and eco-tourism destination with planned museums and natural reserves nearby, with recreational activities on offer including sightseeing, hiking, camping and other desert-friendly sports and festivals. Adjacent to Riyadh, the historic city Diriyah showcases Saudi Arabia’s many centuries of history and culture through development of a giga project cultural offerings, hospitality, planned residential units, and shopping, entertainment, and dining experiences. At the heart of the development is the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site, the historic home of the Al Saud family and capital of the First Saudi State. Diriyah will offer 40 luxury hotels, over one hundred cafes and restaurants, nine museums and galleries, and a golf course. Additional cultural development is taking place through the Soudah Development Company, which is developing tourism infrastructure in the southern Aseer region around Saudi Arabia’s tallest mountain, as well as in Al Hasa, a UNESCO world heritage site featuring the world’s largest desert oasis. Both destinations will offer ecotourism and cultural activities, and would benefit from hospitality providers, tour operators, and tourism training and education.

Entertainment and Sports Venues

Qiddiya is planned to be the world’s largest entertainment city spread across an area of 360 square kilometers. It will feature over 300 leisure and entertainment facilities, including a 20,000-seat clifftop stadium which is slated to host a portion of the 2034 World Cup, motorsports facilities, the world’s largest Six Flags theme park, a world-class waterpark, golf courses, cinemas, and a performing arts theater. Qiddiya aims to attract over 48 million visitors per year.

The Jeddah Central Project, formerly called New Jeddah Downtown, aims to create a world-class destination at the heart of the city. The development will include a state-of-the-art oceanarium, an opera house, and a sports stadium also hosting a portion of the 2034 World Cup, alongside more than 17,000 residential units, 2,700 hotel rooms, a marina, a beach and several green spaces. 

At four times the size of New York City’s Central Park, King Salman Park in Riyadh is envisioned as the “Green Heart” of Riyadh and the largest urban park in the world. It will include residential compounds, hotels, retail space, an arts complex, theatres, museums, cinemas, sports venues, water features, restaurants, and an 18-hole golf course.

The Sports Boulevard in Riyadh will stretch 135 kilometers from end-to-end and feature green pedestrian pathways, cycling lanes, horse-riding tracks, arts centers, museums, studios, libraries, conference halls, and indoor sports facilities. 

Saudi Arabia has successfully secured high-profile global sporting events with the FIFA 2034 World Cup on the horizon. It has previously also hosted the Diriyah ePrix, the PGA European Tour, the WWE Crown Jewel, the Clash on the Dunes Boxing Heavyweight Title Fight, the Saudi Cup Horse Race, and the Saudi Formula 1 Grand Prix. Investment opportunities in stadium development, sports, football and games solutions are expected to increase as Saudi Arabia prepares for the 2034 World Cup, creating more opportunities for private and foreign partnerships. Stadiums will be developed through municipal authorities – such as Jeddah Central Project and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City – as well as through giga projects like Qiddiya and Red Sea Global. Significant opportunities exist for companies specializing in crafting visitor experience, crowd control and event security. 

Gaming

Saudi Arabia is making a significant investment in the gaming industry, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its subsidiary, Savvy Games Group, dedicating $38 billion to the sector’s development. The PIF has already acquired stakes valued at over $5 billion in leading U.S. gaming companies such as Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two Interactive. This investment aims to position Saudi Arabia as a major gaming hub, with goals to host 250 gaming companies/studios, create 39,000 jobs, and have the industry contribute 1 percent to the nation’s GDP by 2030. Key initiatives supporting this vision include the development of a gaming/esports district within the Qiddiya entertainment city and the establishment of a regional AAA game development studio by NEOM and MBC Group. Saudi Arabia strives to be the leader in Esports, hosting the 2024 and 2025 Esports World Cup; in 2025, the games drew 300,000 foreign visitors during Riyadh’s hottest months and historic slowest tourism season. Saudi Arabia has upped their ambitions to be a center for Exports by announcing the first-ever Esports Olympic games to be hosted in Riyadh in 2027 and the Esports Nations Cup in to be held in November 2026.

Opportunities

  • Workforce talent development across all travel, tourism, food & beverage, and entertainment sectors
  • Consulting, master planning, management, production and concept design of family entertainment centers, theme parks, water parks, aquariums, museums, car racing tracks
  • Hotel build, infrastructure, technology and consultancy services
  • Hotel equipment, furniture, restaurant and kitchen equipment, bathroom accessories
  • Spa and fitness equipment, water sports equipment, specialized equipment for remote (off-grid) lodging
  • Facilities management
  • Destination management companies; tour packaging services especially in niche segments
  • Hospitality franchise, concession development and operations
  • Major branded attractions, events, exhibitions, and live shows
  • Integrated solutions for the cinema industry and film production, broadcasting, digitization, content development, audiovisual and acoustics equipment, studio engineering and management, and talent procurement (actors, models and performers)
  • Stadium development, sports fields, and other sports venues
  • Education in design and development of gaming software and applications

Resources

  • Ministry of Tourism
  • Saudi Tourism Authority
  • Tourism Development Fund
  • General Entertainment Authority
  • Saudi Entertainment Ventures
  • General Commission for Audiovisual Media
  • Ministry of Culture and Culture Commissions
  • Ministry of Sport
  • Saudi Convention & Exhibition General Authority

Events

  • Future Hospitality Summit
  • The Hotel Show Saudi Arabia
  • Arabian Travel Market
  • Saudi Entertainment and Amusement Expo
  • Saudi International Media & Broadcast Expo 


For more information, contact shariq.iqbal@trade.gov.

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