Saudi Arabia has already built tourism demand, reaching 122 million visitors in 2025. The next bottleneck is delivery. With inbound leisure still limited, the Kingdom needs far more capable DMCs to turn growing visitor numbers into memorable experiences.
Afia Arabia turned World Cup 2026 into a second competition, this time in the kitchen. Eight food creators represented national teams, competed through cooking challenges and relied on their followers to vote them into the next round.
The obvious comparison for AlUla is Petra. The useful one is Andalusia. Not because of shared Islamic heritage, but because Cordoba and Granada already solved the problem Saudi tourism is about to meet: how to grow an economy on top of a monument you cannot make any bigger.
Saudi delivery apps scaled through promotions and fast adoption. The next market battle is loyalty, restaurant trust, and brand differentiation.
Saudi Arabia's VC market is evolving. Fewer deals, larger investments, and a clear shift toward AI, logistics, and infrastructure tech. Here’s where founders should launch next.
