NEW SPEAKER FOR 2014: Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO and MD, King Abdullah Economic City
A focus on Saudi Arabia — Fahd Al-Rasheed will reveal the opportunities offered by KAEC, one of the world’s largest privately led mega-projects

“Saudi Arabia is full of hospitality and tourism investment opportunities, and King Abdullah Economic City is about diversifying KSA’s income sources and creating jobs for the growing youth. Given that the hospitality sector is a strong contributor to growth and employment in any developed economy, it is definitely in our plans for the city’s current and future development.

We are looking to tap into Saudi Arabia’s massive domestic tourism potential through development of a bouquet of lifestyle destination-driven products within the city such as our upcoming Murooj Golf Course, Juman Park — a unique family leisure park, a resort property under planning, and our first yacht club and marina.

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We are also focused on capturing a share of the growing Umrah market in our Haramain District where we will be connected to Makkah and Madinah by way of a high-speed rail.

Currently, we have Bay La Sun Hotel and Marina, which is the first premium business hotel in the City, and it has seen a very positive response from the corporate business community as well as government for the hosting of conferences, meetings, and events.

We aim to strengthen this category through amplified development and services catering to this sector. Further, there is a growing demand being generated from the industrial growth at KAEC. We have successfully attracted global and regional industrial anchors and as these projects undergo development, there will be a sizeable demand for accommodation.

In fact, we are actively seeking and developing strategic alliances — both with third party developers as well as joint venture partners to cater to this demand. We see an immediate demand for extended stay products as well as budget hotels in the city.

Developers are not obsessed with hotels being trophy assets alone and an increasing appetite for midscale, extended stay and budget hotels proves that all the stake-holders are willing to exploit the full potential of the economic opportunities.”