The nation’s advocates say the World Cup and World Expo selections are key milestones that represent the oil-rich government’s efforts to diversify the economy and rely less on energy and more on other sectors, like tourism.

“The next decade we’ll host two of the largest events,” said Fahd al-Rasheed, chairman of the Saudi Conventions and Exhibitions General Authority, at the International MICE Summit. MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, a business-focused segment of the tourism sector that generates revenue from large trade shows and conferences. “Our sector has an even larger opportunity.” 

The return of business travel

The MICE industry has lately benefited from a rebound in business travel, which was slower to recover from the pandemic than leisure travel. After lockdown restrictions were lifted, many across the globe quickly booked trips to make up for lost time, a surge in demand that was called “revenge travel.” But for business professionals, travel—including for in-person conferences—didn’t jump as sharply because Zoom and other videoconferencing technologies made it easier for meetings to be conducted virtually.

Al-Rasheed said, over the next decade, international business travel growth is projected to outpace the world’s economic growth, and he believes Saudi Arabia has an opportunity to benefit owing to state spending to support tourism, in both the leisure and business categories. Vision 2030, the state-run program championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is projected to spend as much as $1.3 trillion on infrastructure to remake the nation’s economy.

Saudi Arabia’s minister of tourism, Ahmed bin Aqil al-Khateeb, said the MICE industry globally will fully recover by the end of 2024. Bolstering tourism in Saudi Arabia, he said, is a strategic priority for the government. “Tourism is important for jobs, for women, important for the economy, and rural areas,” said al-Khateeb. 

The nation is aiming to attract 150 million annual visitors by 2030 as part of the Vision 2030 plan.

Some efforts to bolster infrastructure to support travel in the Middle East nation include the construction of a new international airport expected to open in 2030 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital and largest city. The government is also financially propping up a startup airline carrier, Riyadh Air, with plans to launch flights by next summer. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is seeking to make tourism easier for residents of 66 countries—including the United States, Japan, and Australia—who can obtain a 90-day tourist visa through an online application that is approved instantly.

Diversifying from oil

These investments can help make tourism the second largest contributor to the Saudi Arabian economy after oil, al-Khateeb said.

“Creating this source of income and these jobs will definitely make our economy more sustainable and more resilient in the future,” he added.

One panel at the summit featured Abdulaziz Alghannam, director general of the future World Expo in Riyadh, which could see well over 20 million visitors, alongside CEO Andrew Pearcey, who oversees the biannual World Defense Show, which has already held two events in Saudi Arabia and hosted 220,000 attendees at its most recent iteration. 

In the years ahead, Alghannam will work to alleviate issues around getting approvals for vendors to enter Saudi Arabia. “Their issues are associated with customs and transporting food,” said Alghannam.

Pearcey said his group faced challenges in building an event space specifically to support the show as well as in importing military equipment to display there. “In terms of planning, make sure you do it early on,” said Pearcey. “Be aware that other events are happening at the same time. For the supply chain, you suddenly have 10 big events happening,” he added, making it difficult to procure equipment for event logistics.

“A lot of mega-events are concentrated in Q4 and Q1,” said Jean-Guillaume Lacoste, CEO of the Middle East division at French-based GL Events, a contractor that helped support the Paris Olympics earlier this year. “That challenges both equipment and manpower.”

And while the travel and tourism industry accounts for around 10% of global GDP, tourism is also responsible for 8% to 10% of carbon emissions, the World Travel & Tourism Council estimates. “In the last 20 years, there is a recognition of tourism as a sector that goes beyond leisure activity or business activity,” said Luigi Cabrini, chairman of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. “There is a need for a framework for action on sustainability.” 

Cabrini’s organization created sustainability criteria for the MICE sector, which include pushing event organizers to use local materials, renting temporary structures that can be reused, favoring recyclable products over disposable goods when possible, and working with environmentally friendly vendors. 

“The pressure is increasing,” said Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, adding that MICE and the business industry are feeling more pressure to think sustainably for bidding, and as regulations have become more stringent in markets like Europe. “Travelers want sustainability. All over the world, people 35 and under are very concerned about the world they are inheriting.”

John Rossant, founder and CEO of CoMotion, a Los Angeles–based event that promotes future-forward urban planning and transportation, touted the opening of the Riyadh Metro, which began operation on Dec. 1 and is the world’s largest driverless transit system.

Riyadh, he said, is also appealing to CoMotion as the city represents urban reinvention—building projects more from scratch rather than repurposing old structures and infrastructure.

“Mobility and transportation account for around 25% of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, and it is imperative to bring that down,” said Rossant. “There’s a real move to do that here in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil importer.”