How pleased are you by the first edition of the Winter at Tantora festival?
Winter at Tantora showcased AlUla to the world and showed international visitors a vision of the region’s future. It was a rich and fulfilling experience for guests, with international artists performing, helicopter tours to secret sites, fine dining in picturesque canyons and new surprises every weekend. They experienced the very best that we offer: heritage, nature, local hospitality and culture. It helped develop our credibility as a premier destination and was such a success we are already preparing for a second season.
What makes the AlUla brand unique?
As a destination with Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and many other important heritage sites besides, we are presenting AlUla as an oasis of civilization, and we have a clear understanding of where our brand fits in a competitive global landscape.
We work to apply best practices as custodians of AlUla’s unique site.
Our initial target areas are markets within six hours of AlUla including travelers from Europe, Russia and China, and from the main hubs in the Gulf area.
How will you transform this region into a living museum?
Celebrating AlUla as a place of heritage for the world is something I am hugely passionate about. We will use unique technologies to create an entirely curated experience from arrival to departure. The world wants to discover AlUla and we are already underway with developing the platforms and expertise needed to make this region a living museum that tourists can enjoy.
What will this project mean for the local community of AlUla?
The local community is the heart and soul of AlUla and we are working to nurture local entrepreneurship, enable employment in high-quality jobs and develop professional initiatives based on local need.
Last year, we launched our international scholarship program and now have 168 students studying tourism, history, archaeology and architecture at top institutions in the U.K., France and the U.S. In addition, we created Hammayah, a community advocacy and engagement program where locals learn to become stewards of AlUla’s cultural and natural heritage
As published in Fortune magazine
