Saudi Arabia plans to tap everything from a 2,000-year-old UNESCO heritage site to the 'the longest, tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world' to boost domestic tourism.
is the first major international theme park operator to sign up for Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya project, an "entertainment super-city" under construction 40 kilometers outside Riyadh.
Many of the country's goals — it says it wants to become one of the world's top five destinations for tourists — are ambitious. Qiddiya is one of several mega-projects under development inside Saudi Arabia that it's hoped will contribute to a total of a million new jobs. Qiddiya, its backers say, will chip in 17,000 off the bat.
It's not just theme parks and roller coasters. Eco-tourism is a big focus for Amr AlMadani, the CEO for the Royal Commission for Al-Ula, a UNESCO site. Last year, Saudis spent $10 billion outside of the Kingdom on the kinds of goods and services that Qiddiya is offering —entertainment, sports and the arts.Two thirds of the Saudi population is under 35, a project like Qiddiya provides huge economic opportunity, Reininger said.
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