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Riyadh Season Generates Thousands of Job Opportunities, Record Revenues

The Wonder Garden area during the 2023 Riyadh Season (Riyadh Season Media Center)
The Wonder Garden area during the 2023 Riyadh Season (Riyadh Season Media Center)
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Riyadh Season Generates Thousands of Job Opportunities, Record Revenues

The Wonder Garden area during the 2023 Riyadh Season (Riyadh Season Media Center)
The Wonder Garden area during the 2023 Riyadh Season (Riyadh Season Media Center)

Less than two months have passed since the launch of the fourth edition of the Riyadh Season. The event is considered one of the basic pillars of the entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia and aims to transform the Kingdom into a world-leading tourist destination, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

Since the start of the first edition in 2019, direct and indirect income generated from the event has gradually increased from SAR 4 billion to around SAR 6 billion, according to previous statements by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh.

The revenues of this year’s edition are expected to grow in light of the new and varied events and programs.

Since the launch of the fourth edition, the number of visitors has reached more than 5 million, who came from various regions of the Kingdom and the world.

Saudi Arabia ranked first among the G20 countries, and second globally in the growth rate of the number of international tourists, achieving a growth of 50 percent in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019, according to the World Tourism Report.

The Riyadh Season is expected to generate thousands of job opportunities, as it provided 187,000 direct and indirect jobs last season, and aims to provide 200,000 employments, of which 60,000 are direct.

According to the Ministry of Finance, around 12 million visitors attended the 2022 edition of the Riyadh Season, which contributed to the creation of approximately 25,000 direct jobs and maximizing the entertainment impact on the Kingdom’s residents and visitors.

The figures provided by the Entertainment Portal - which provides licenses for activities and services affiliated with the General Entertainment Authority and aims to develop and regulate the entertainment sector in the Kingdom - reflect the growing importance of this vital sector.

Around 495 licenses were issued in November, while the total number since the launch of the portal in 2020 exceeded 15,000 licenses, for more than 4,500 establishments working to implement entertainment activities in various fields related to the sector.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Riyadh Season contributed greatly to the promotion of tourism and the strengthening of the Saudi economy.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Hokair Group, Majed Al Hokair, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Riyadh Season was one of the pillars of tourism and economy in Saudi Arabia, adding: “The season has become not only about entertainment activities, but rather it is moving towards an actual, professional, model industry.”

The founder and partner of Al Sarh Tourism Company, Muhaidib Al Muhaidib, explained that the Riyadh Season helps the tourism sector achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

He noted that the Kingdom has made amendments to the visit visa regulations for the purpose of tourism, in addition to facilitating the procedures for the arrival of pilgrims from abroad. In August, the country also allowed the access to electronic visas to eight new countries, expanding the scope of the visa to 57 countries around the world.

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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa

The International Monetary Fund expects the world economy to grow a little faster and inflation to keep falling this year. But it warned that the outlook is clouded by President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to slash US taxes, impose tariffs on foreign goods, ease regulations on businesses and deport millions of immigrants working illegally in the United States.

The Washington-based lending agency expects the world economy to grow 3.3% this year and next, up from 3.2% in 2024. The growth is steady but unimpressive: From 2000 to 2019, the world economy grew faster – an average of 3.7% a year. The sluggish growth reflects the lingering effects of big global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IMF is a 191-nation lending organization that works to promote economic growth and financial stability and to reduce global poverty.

Global inflation, which had surged after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains and caused shortages and higher prices, is forecast to fall from 5.7% in 2024 to 4.2% this year and 3.5% in 2026.

But in a blog post that accompanied the release of the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report, the fund’s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, wrote that the policies Trump has promised to introduce “are likely to push inflation higher in the near term,” The Associated Press reported.

Big tax cuts could overheat the US economy and inflation. Likewise, hefty tariffs on foreign products could at least temporarily push up prices and hurt exporting countries around the world. And mass deportations could cause restaurants, construction companies and other businesses to run short of workers, pushing up their costs and weighing on economic growth.

Gourinchas also wrote that Trump’s plans to slash regulations on business could “boost potential growth in the medium term if they remove red tape and stimulate innovation.’’ But he warned that “excessive deregulation could also weaken financial safeguards and increase financial vulnerabilities, putting the US economy on a dangerous boom-bust path.’’

Trump inherits a strong US economy. The IMF expects US growth to come in at 2.7% this year, a hefty half percentage point upgrade from the 2.2% it had forecast in October.

The American economy — the world's biggest — is proving resilient in the face of high interest rates, engineered by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation. The US is benefiting from a strong job market that gives consumers the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep spending, from strong gains in productivity and from an influx of immigrants that has eased labor shortages.

The US economy’s unexpectedly strong performance stands in sharp contrast to the advanced economies across the Atlantic Ocean. The IMF expects the 20 countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 1% this year, up from 0.8% in 2024 but down from the 1.2% it was expecting in October. “Headwinds,” Gourinchas wrote, “include weak momentum, especially in manufacturing, low consumer confidence, and the persistence of a negative energy price shock’’ caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese economy, No. 2 in the world, is forecast to decelerate – from 4.8% last year to 4.6% in 2025 and 4.5% in 2026. A collapse in the Chinese housing market has undermined consumer confidence. If government doesn’t do enough to stimulate the economy with lower interest rates, stepped-up spending or tax cuts, China “is at risk of a debt-deflation stagnation trap,’’ Gourinchas warned, in which falling prices discourage consumers from spending (because they have an incentive to wait to get still better bargains) and make it more expensive for borrowers to repay loans.

The IMF forecasts came out a day after its sister agency, the World Bank, predicted global growth of 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, same as last year and 2023.

The bank, which makes loans and grants to poor countries, warned that the growth wasn’t sufficient to reduce poverty in low-income countries. The IMF’s global growth estimates tend to be higher than the World Bank’s because they give more weight to faster-growing developing countries.