RIYADH (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia already has enough hotel rooms to host the 2034 World Cup, but is focused on adding more domestic hotel space and has not decided whether to invest in an area along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the kingdom’s tourism minister said on Sunday.
Cairo has been drawing up plans for a possible investment to develop Ras Gamila, a stretch of largely vacant seaside near the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, following a massive investment by the United Arab Emirates to develop a stretch of Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
But asked about possible Saudi investment, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb told the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh the kingdom was prioritising the development of new destinations at home, such as the giant Red Sea Global development, which includes plans to open 17 new hotels by next May.
Al-Khateeb said FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, had told Saudi Arabia that it already has enough hotel rooms to accommodate fans expected to visit for the 2034 World Cup.
“They checked the number of rooms today, and we qualify, but we are adding more rooms, and we are adding a better experience, for example, luxury destinations,” he added.
He reiterated that Saudi Arabia has not made any moves towards lifting a ban on the sale of alcohol and said that tourists were keen to visit the kingdom to enjoy other things.
The once ultra-conservative kingdom has eased some restrictions to lure tourists and international businesses as part of an ambitious plan to diversify its economy and make itself less dependent on oil.
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Writing by Andrew Mills and Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Helen Popper)
