Saudi Arabia's AlUla will embark on a roadshow in the Middle East, London and New York to woo investors with a package of 21 projects worth six billion Saudi riyals ($1.6 billion) to raise private sector funding for expansion.
The tourism destination will start offering projects covering four-and-five star hotels, wellness facilities, restaurants, adventure tourism products and infrastructure to private investors by December, Phillip Jones, chief tourism officer at the Royal Commission for AlUla, told The National.
“We've proven that we're a destination that can deliver in terms of visitation, job creation and brand position, so that has set us up nicely to hopefully attract investors for the long haul,” he said in an interview in Abu Dhabi.
“To be successful and sustainable for the long haul, we need to have private sector investment. It can't all be just public sector-led.”
The target is for private investment to constitute 40 per cent of the total funding, though an even split of 50-50 between public and private funding would be ideal, Mr Jones said.
Developing the historical site is part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 agenda, which was launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 to transform the economy, reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons and develop strategic non-oil sectors such as tourism, hospitality and aviation.
Saudi Arabia exceeded its Vision 2030 target of 100 million visitors years ahead of schedule after receiving 116 million domestic and inbound tourists in 2024, a 6 per cent increase compared with 2023, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Located in the northwestern region of the kingdom, the historic AlUla region is the former capital of the ancient Arabian kingdom of Lihyan. The region includes Hegra, made up of Nabataean rock formations and has been granted Unesco World Heritage status. More than 110 well-preserved tombs, ancient inscriptions and carvings give visitors insight into a bygone era.
“There's something mystical and magical about it,” Mr Jones said. “We don't have to build from the ground up like Red Sea [tourism project] and Neom, we have 7,000 years of history that we're building on. Multiple civilisations have left their mark and we have heritage sites dedicated to them and that's what sets us apart.”
Private residences
Besides hotels, AlUla plans to offer private residences to international private sector investors.
Saudi Arabia this year updated its rules to allow foreigners to buy property in specific zones, a move that is attracting the attention of new buyers to luxury residences in AlUla from the US, France and the Middle East, according to the tourism chief.
“We're seeing quite a lot of interest from the American investor market in private residences – that's the area that we have the most potential,” Mr Jones said, noting that venture capitalists from the US and the region have flown into AlUla to inspect the project.
While hotels such as the Four Seasons and Six Senses will have some private residences, the master plan also features specific zones for the development of about 400 private homes.
“That could grow based on interest and demand, we have lots of land,” Mr Jones said. However, about 60 per cent of AlUla is designated a national park and cannot be developed.
IPO-readiness
AlUla could consider an initial public offering in the future, Mr Jones said, adding that they are going to “look at all options for investors” and that “nothing is off the table”.
But the timing for a listing at this stage is still too premature and will probably be considered during phase two of the project, perhaps in 2029, he said.
“I don't think we're ready for it,” Mr Jones said. “We need to get the initial investor packages out and see what kind of response we get.
“We've made it easier for investors now in Saudi Arabia, so now what we have to do is capitalise on that and when you host events like FII, big initiatives where investors are coming in, we have to have an investor package ready to go,” he said, referring to the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh starting Monday.
No budget cut
AlUla has not been affected by the government's spending rationalisation programme across the kingdom and its budget has been secured by the PIF until 2030, Mr Jones said. AlUla's budget stands at 14 billion Saudi riyals for this year and a similar amount for 2026, he added.
“We're lucky, we've been able to maintain our budget, as opposed to cut our budget, but we haven't been able to grow our budget other than with private sector investment,” he said.
The biggest chunk of the budget will be spent on infrastructure works, including water and sewage, in the tourist areas such as the Old Town and on operations.
Alula, which has just completed phase one of development and is starting on phase two, has finished roughly 35 per cent of the total project, Mr Jones. The plan is to complete phase two by 2030, though some assets will not be finished until 2035.
Saudi Arabia has awarded contracts worth $196 billion to develop its commissioned giga projects, up 20 per cent on 2024, according to a Knight Frank report. The total value of projects in the pipeline in the kingdom currently stands at $80 billion, it said.
The $15 billion AlUla has commissioned projects to date worth $2.2 billion, while the value of projects in the pipeline is $11.1 billion, it said.
Boosting international flights
AlUla welcomed 265,000 visitors last year and is forecasting 300,000 by the end of 2025, before ultimately targeting one million by 2030, according to Mr Jones.
About 30 per cent of visitors to the historical, cultural and art site are international travellers. Its top source markets, after Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, are the US, UK, China, India, Italy, France and Germany.
AlUla, which currently has about 1,200 rooms, aims to reach 2,000 rooms by early 2028. “Our demand in the season outstrips our capacity,” Mr Jones said, acknowledging that the desert destination is a “harder sell” during the hot summer months.
AlUla is attracting high-end visitors interested in “experiential” travel and last year it had hundreds of private jets flying in.
The commission is also seeking to boost international flights to the luxury destination. Currently it has 30 flights a week, including services from Saudia, flynas, flydubai, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian.
Talks are under way with international carriers as well as airline alliances, Mr Jones said. With Saudia already a part of the Sky Team airline alliance and Qatar Airways a Oneworld alliance member, that leaves Star Alliance, whose member airlines include United, Lufthansa and Air China. “We need better connectivity from Asia,” Mr Jones said.
Saudi start-up carrier Riyadh Air will also start flying to AlUla, Mr Jones said. The airline, which has yet to start selling tickets to the general public, will take delivery of its Airbus A321 Neo narrow-bodies in 2026.
Meanwhile, work is under way to increase AlUla International Airport's capacity to one million passengers by January 2026, up from 400,000 currently, he said.
Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
if you go
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Test
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Director: Navdeep Singh
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Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
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- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
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- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
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- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
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Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eamana%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Karim%20Farra%20and%20Ziad%20Aboujeb%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERegulator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDFSA%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinancial%20services%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E85%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf-funded%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. The biog
Name: Gul Raziq
From: Charsadda, Pakistan
Family: Wife and six children
Favourite holes at Al Ghazal: 15 and 8
Golf Handicap: 6
Childhood sport: cricket
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
