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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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Ukraine Receives First 3 Bln Euro Tranche of G7 Loan from EU

An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Ukraine Receives First 3 Bln Euro Tranche of G7 Loan from EU

An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukraine received its first 3 billion euro ($3.09 billion) tranche of the European Union's portion of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loan agreed for Ukraine by the G7 group of countries, its prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday.

It was the first tranche of EU loan secured by profits from frozen Russian assets, Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram app.

G7 leaders in October agreed to provide some $50 billion in loans to Ukraine via multiple channels.
"Today, we deliver €3 billion to Ukraine, the 1st payment of the EU part of the G7 loan. Giving Ukraine the financial power to continue fighting for its freedom – and prevail," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media platform X.

In other economic news, Ukraine's steel output rose by 21.6% in 2024 to 7.58 million metric tons, its producers union said late on Thursday, though fighting that is closing in on the country's only coking coal mine threatens to slash volumes this year.

Steel production has already suffered since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, which has led to the destruction of leading steel plants.

Ukraine, formerly a major steel producer and exporter, reported a 70.7% drop in output in 2022 to 6.3 million tons. It fell to 6 million tons in 2023.

The steelmakers' union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine, Ukraine's only coking coal mine, could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons in 2025.
Advancing Russian forces are less than 2 km (1.24 miles) from the mine, Ukrainian military analyst DeepState said on Friday.
The mine's owner, steelmaker Metinvest BV, said last month it had already halted some operations at the mine and two industry sources said it was operating at 50% capacity.
Producers have said they hope to find coking coal from elsewhere in Ukraine should the mine be seized by Russian troops, but imports would inevitably be needed which would raise costs.