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ASFAR to Asharq Al-Awsat: Tourist Destinations in Western Saudi Arabia Ready to Receive Visitors in 2025

ASFAR pavilion at the Saudi Tourism Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
ASFAR pavilion at the Saudi Tourism Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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ASFAR to Asharq Al-Awsat: Tourist Destinations in Western Saudi Arabia Ready to Receive Visitors in 2025

ASFAR pavilion at the Saudi Tourism Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
ASFAR pavilion at the Saudi Tourism Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)

ASFAR, the Saudi Tourism Investment Company, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, said that a number of tourism facilities in the Al-Baha and Yanbu regions (west of the Kingdom) will be ready to receive visitors at the beginning of 2025.
ASFAR was established in July, with the aim to invest in tourism projects in various cities of the Kingdom. The company seeks to develop the hospitality, entertainment, retail and food sectors, in addition to investing in the local tourism system. It also aims to empower the private sector through joint investments, and create opportunities for local contractors and suppliers, as well as small and medium-sized companies.
The CEO of ASFAR, Fahad bin Mushayt, told Asharq Al-Awsat that in light of the increase in the number of tourists in Saudi Arabia, the company is working according to an integrated strategy in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and a number of other parties, to develop tourist destinations in the Kingdom.
Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khatib had announced on Monday that the tourism sector’s contribution in 2023 rose to 4.5 percent of the gross domestic product and 7 percent of the total oil output.
According to recent World Tourism Organization figures, the Kingdom achieved a 156 percent recovery in the number of tourist arrivals during 2023 compared to 2019, exceeding the global rate of recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic by 88 percent.
Bin Mushayt stated that the company has begun construction work on resorts in the Al-Baha and Yanbu regions, which are expected to be ready for visitors by the beginning of 2025.
He added that the year 2023 witnessed the signing of many agreements with the regional secretariats and private sector companies in the regions of Hail, Al-Ahsa and Taif, noting that the construction of resorts and tourist facilities in the three regions will begin at the end of 2024.
In a dialogue session at the Real Estate Future Forum, the CEO of ASFAR said that the Kingdom was preparing for a major expansion in the hospitality sector, by establishing 315,000 hotel units by 2030, as the luxury hotel category will constitute 77 percent of upcoming projects.
He noted the number of tourists witnessed a growth of up to 58 percent during the year 2023, which places the Kingdom in second place in the world.

 

 

 

 

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Business

Oil Prices Fall on Easing Fears Over Saudi Supply Disruption

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Oil Prices Fall on Easing Fears Over Saudi Supply Disruption

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Oil prices fell 2% on Friday, extending losses for a third straight session as easing concerns over Saudi supply disruptions outweighed anxiety about a widening of conflict across the Middle East.

Brent crude futures fell by $2.14, or 2%, to $102.68 a barrel by 0806 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures fell $1.83, or 1.8%, to $100.08, Reuters reported.

Benchmark Brent prices are on track for their first weekly loss in three.

Prices climbed to close to four-month highs earlier in the week after sources said crude loadings ⁠at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had been suspended and Riyadh cancelled some deliveries to Europe after its East-West pipeline was damaged in an attack last week.

However, prices have cooled since on reports that Saudi Arabia was seeking to restore about half the capacity of its East-West oil pipeline within days.

Saudi Arabia has sold about 60 million barrels of crude from its Gulf port of Ras Tanura inside the Strait of Hormuz for loading via ship-to-ship transfer at the Omani port of Sohar this month and next, multiple trade sources said on Friday.

The rebound in Saudi Aramco's exports from inside the Gulf to between 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day on average, similar to or slightly higher than August's levels, has cooled global oil prices as it could make up for some of the ⁠volume lost at its port of Yanbu.

Chinese and South Korean refiners are among the top buyers of the spot supplies, while some volumes will be going to India and Japan, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Recent efforts ‌to restore Saudi export capacity have reduced some of the immediate supply ‌anxiety," said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.

Business

5 Countries Want Smaller Growth of Next EU Budget, Spain Offers Ideas

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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5 Countries Want Smaller Growth of Next EU Budget, Spain Offers Ideas

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria said on Friday the European Union's budget for 2028-2034 must be "several hundred billion euros" smaller than the €2 trillion proposed by the European Commission, drawing battle lines before EU budget talks come to a head in the next three months.

The leaders of the five countries, among the biggest net contributors to the budget, wrote in a joint op-ed in Politico that EU taxpayers ⁠cannot keep paying ⁠more to pay for both old and new priorities.

"It (the budget) is too focused on subsidies and transfers allocated largely in advance, leaving too little room for what Europe urgently needs: common investment in security and defense, competitiveness, innovation, and the fight against irregular migration," the five leaders said.

Net beneficiaries of the EU budget are concerned that ⁠would reduce EU funds for farmers and for equalizing standards of living between the poorer and richer regions of Europe -- a major political concern before parliamentary elections next year in France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece, Finland, Slovakia and Estonia.

The European Commission has proposed the budget should amount to €2 trillion or 1.26% of EU Gross National Income (GNI), of which some 168 billion, or 0.11% of GNI, is to service the EU's borrowing for the post-pandemic recovery fund. The five leaders called the proposed nominal increase of around 60% over the 2021-2027 budget "simply not ⁠realistic."

"This is ⁠why we call for a balanced cut to the Commission’s proposal of several hundred billion euros," Reuters quoted them as saying.

To help find a solution, Spain proposed to change the repayment schedule of part of the EU post-pandemic borrowing, linking it to economic growth and spreading it out over a longer period. This, according to Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, would free up some €70 billion.

"An annual payment of about 0.06% of EU GDP would retire the debt by 2058, the deadline agreed by member states," Cuerpo said.

EU governments will discuss the next EU budget at summits in October, November and December in an effort to get a deal before the end of the year.

Business

Gold Extends Gains to Scale One-week High as Crude Prices Ease

FILE PHOTO: A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewelry showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewelry showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo/File Photo
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Gold Extends Gains to Scale One-week High as Crude Prices Ease

FILE PHOTO: A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewelry showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A salesman arranges gold bangles inside a jewelry showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Mumbai, India, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo/File Photo

Gold rose for a second straight session on Friday, hitting a one-week high, as oil prices fell, while investors kept a close watch on developments in the Middle East conflict.

Spot gold was up 1.1% at $4,387.69 per ounce by 0829 GMT, and was on track for a weekly gain ‌of 1%.

US ‌gold futures rose 0.6% to $4,428.

Oil prices fell ‌for ⁠a third straight ⁠session, as easing concerns over supply disruptions outweighed anxiety about a widening Middle East conflict.

"The precious metal appears to have taken the Fed's hawkish signals in stride, instead finding immediate relief from falling oil prices amid hopes that the Fed's hiking cycle will prove shallow," said Han Tan, chief market analyst ⁠at Bybit.

Although gold is traditionally viewed as ‌a hedge against inflation, higher rates ‌can curb its demand by increasing the appeal of yield-bearing assets.

The ‌US Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and flagged ‌more hikes in the coming months.

Goldman Sachs said in a note that it expects "the impact of tighter monetary policy to be felt primarily through a slower near-term appreciation path rather than a lower ‌terminal gold price."

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high and signaled ⁠its readiness ⁠to keep pushing up borrowing costs, joining other major central banks in fighting persistent inflation pressures.

"Looking ahead, the state of the conflict in the Middle East will be a key factor influencing gold prices. If the conflict prolongs and oil prices remain high well into next year, that could prompt central banks to raise rates more than investors expect, which would put downward pressure on gold prices," said Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

Spot silver rose 2.7% to $66.98, platinum gained 2.6% to $1,814.95 and palladium added 3.1% at $1,330.95. All metals were headed for a weekly gain.