Tl;dr – The desert nation will welcome at least 130 new luxury properties by 2030.
A few months ago, I wrote about Saudi Arabia’s expected loosening of its liquor laws as part of a greater ‘opening up’ to tourism. The country will host both the World Cup and the World’s Fair over the next decade, and generally, is making a concerted effort to make tourism a real revenue stream for its economy. Well, if you’re expecting a lot of tourists, you’ll need places for tourists to stay, and Saudi Arabia is ambitiously answering that call. Initially, I was just going to report on news of Aman’s announcement of its upcoming Amansamar resort in Wadi Safar. When I realized that the country would open at least 130 luxury hotels by 2030, it became clear that it would take me just as long to cover all of them. Accordingly, I’ll give you the summary.
Fact Magazine has a complete list of the planned openings, and again, I should point out that this list is insane. Some highlights amongst brands that are typically popular with readers: there will be five Four Seasons properties, four total properties from Aman and its sibling brand Janu, four Ritz-Carlton hotels and one Ritz-Carlton Reserve hotel, three Six Senses, three Fairmonts, three Regents, three Waldorf Astorias, three JW Marriotts, two Park Hyatts, two Capellas, one St. Regis, one Banyan Tree, one LXR, one Oberoi, and one Kempinski. And again, these are all just cherry picking some more popular names.
At some point, I started to think I was being trolled when I scrolled by a hotel called The Rig, which, right on brand for Saudi Arabia, is a luxury hotel on an oil rig.
Yes, that is both a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster attached to an oil rig.
There will also be some hotel openings that represent brand extensions from other luxury products. For example, there will be a Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotel from the luxury automaker and two Equinox hotels from the luxury fitness and health club company.
When it’s all said and done, this might be the deepest lineup of luxury hotels across any country in the world.
