Anyone with even a basic knowledge of Middle Eastern history, geography, and culture knows of Saudi Arabia’s powerhouse capital city, Riyadh; its namesake royal family, the Al Sauds; and its predominant sect of Islam, Wahabism. However, not nearly as many have heard of the place that connects all three of these in a very historically […]
Marriott´s Odd Choice for W Hotel Cairo leaves major potential patron markets untapped
Since it´s acquisition of Starwood´s portfolio of hotels in 2015, Marriott International has significantly upped its game on the trendy luxury hotel scene. Previously known for a diverse collection of brands and properties ranging from plainly elegant to blandly corporate, Marriott merger with (aka aquisition of) Starwood landed it ownership and control of jetsetter brand […]
Saudi Arabia has 350,000 reasons to celebrate the success of its tourism decision
Saudi Arabia is experiencing a relative tourism boom in response to opening its borders to secular international visitors in September of 2019. A little more than three months later, the chairman of the the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Ahmed Al Khatib, said that the country had issued 350,000 tourist visas in Q4 […]
Neom: The Future of Mega Resorts or a Desert Mirage?
Flying cars. Robotic dinosaurs. Holographic educators. An artificial moon. These are just a few of the things that are being touted as elements of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s planned futuristic mega resort on the Red Sea. But is all of this Neom talk just well-financed hype designed to draw headlines, peak investors’ curiosity, and induce FOMO? […]
