Saudi Arabia to build a version of the Champs-Elysees in Diriyah

King Salman Boulevard will be the same length and width as famous French shopping avenue

Salwa Palace at Al Turaif district of Diriyah, the first seat of power in Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg

Diriyah Company, the developer turning the historic Saudi city into a tourism giga-project, is planning a Parisian Champs-Elysees-inspired boulevard, as it prepares to launch several projects next year.

The King Salman Boulevard – the same length and width as the famous French shopping avenue – will be revealed along with a new opera house, contemporary art museum, mosque, convention centre and performance arena in December 2024.

The projects were announced on Wednesday by Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive of Diriyah Company, at the Wadi Safar experience centre west of Diriyah.

“Every year we will open, ground-break and announce assets until the fabulous world Expo in 2030,” he said, referring to Riyadh winning the bid to host the world fair.

Diriyah, home to the Unesco World Heritage Site of At-Turaif, is the birthplace of the kingdom and the ancestral home of Al Saud royal family. The first Saudi state was established on the site in 1727.

The $63.2 billion giga-project will cover 14 square kilometres and have 42 hotels, more than 100 restaurants, nine museums and about 30,000 homes by 2030.

The Diriyah Company, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, will transform the historic site into a space for culture, heritage and tourism.

Polo and golf in the desert

During a two-day event that started on Wednesday, the company revealed the first phase of its new 27-hole championship golf course designed by Australian former major winner Greg Norman.

At the planned Royal Diriyah Golf Club in Wadi Safar, the driving range and the completed first nine holes of the course were on display during the Bashayer 2023 event. This is the first of an annual series of events intended to unveil new developments and initiatives in Diriyah and highlight the project's progress.

“We've all been blown away by the transition in Saudi Arabia in such a short period of time, and I've seen that just in golf alone,” Mr Norman said at the event.

From up to 400,000 people who play the sport in the kingdom, to plans for growing tourism, there is a “massive opportunity” to attract visitors, he said.

The company also showed the first phase of its Royal Diriyah Equestrian and Polo Club, which will stage global events once completed.

The club will be able to house 180 horses in its stables and have two polo fields. A VIP lounge, pro shop, restaurant and polo lessons will be available for members.

Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras opened the site with a friendly game on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia is looking for other ways to bring equestrian events to the kingdom after hosting the Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo – the only modern polo tournament in the world to be staged in a desert environment.

“The Arab world has a real knowledge and passion for horses. There's a dream of building a sport in a place where the locals are horsemen and that's very important,” Mr Figueras told The National.

“I am going to be back in a month to play polo in AlUla again … and there's a few more projects around the kingdom with polo and I really want to be a part of it, I'm excited and I feel the energy here.”

After the “huge success” of polo tournaments in AlUla, Mr Figueras said he has a “lot of faith that the same will happen” in Diriyah.

“There are eight million people in Riyadh already and I believe this is going to be a very successful venture,” he said.

Saudi Arabia's first seat of power – Diriyah – was built from mud bricks along the banks of Wadi Hanifah, north-west of Riyadh. All Photos: Diriyah Gate Development Authority

The DGDA is restoring the region, starting with the historic Al Turaif district and then extending to multiple other sites, set to conclude in 2025

In 2010, Al Turaif district was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, initiating a concerted effort to restore and make it ready for tourists

Founded in the 15th century, Al Turaif district offers a glimpse into the distinctive Najdi architectural style, unique to the heart of the Arabian peninsula

The DGDA has worked hard to preserve the archaeological ruins of Al Turaif, balancing conservation with public accessibility

The DGDA officially opened the Al Turaif district to the public in December 2022 and began welcoming local and international visitors to the historic district

The archaeological site at Wadi Safar Dam, a 60-square-meter extension of Wadi Hanifa, Diryah

“[Our] main objective is to study the historical landscape, to better understand the foundation of [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s] social and economic development,” heritage management senior director for DGDA, Paola Pesaresi tells The National

Natural heritage, cultural heritage and community are the three keys to understanding life in the area. We go through the proper value assessment, with the support of the [local] communities, in order to have them at the centre of any decision making," Pesaresi adds

Founded around 1446, Diriyah served as the home of the Saudi royal family and later the capital of the First Saudi State

This eventually led to the creation of the First Saudi State, which caused Diriyah to rapidly increase in both size and wealth, becoming an influential modern state

Diriyah was later invaded during the Ottoman-Saudi War (1811–1818) where – after a six month-long siege, the city capitulated to the Ottomans, ending the First Saudi State. In 1824, the Second Saudi State was founded in Riyadh, just to the south of Diriyah

Luxury homes

The Diriyah Company also announced ceremonial ground-breaking on three of its planned 42 hotels: the Aman, Oberoi and Six Senses at Wadi Safar.

In Diriyah this year six million trees were planted, parks were created and 3,000 of 40,000 subterranean parking spaces were built with the “highest level” of sustainability, Mr Inzerillo said.

Najdi-inspired luxury homes also went on the market this year at Diriyah and sold quickly, he said.

“We've already put out our first residences on sale, and they were a little bit on the high market, and we have stopped the sales because they were going too quickly. We had to hold a few for certain people who needed to have one, who may have not seen the initial announcement,” Mr Inzerillo said.

Saudi Arabia will hit its target of 100 million annual domestic and international visitors next week, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb said at the Bashayer event.

“We had committed to reach 100 million tourists by 2030 as part of our national tourism strategy, with 70 million local and 25 to 30 million international, and I would like to announce that we will hit 100 million next week,” he said.

By the end of last week, the kingdom recorded 25 million international arrivals, according to the minister. That is up from 16.5 million last year.

Saudi Arabia has revised upwards its 2030 target for tourist trips – a figure that includes domestic and international travellers – to 150 million from 100 million, the minister said.

The kingdom is investing in tourism giga-projects in Riyadh such as Diriyah and Qiddiyah because “we believe that people who travel to any country tend to stay in one city”, he said.

Of the target of 150 million visitors, about 60 per cent are expected to stay in Riyadh, according to the minister.

Global tourism's 'new frontier'

Six Senses chief executive Neil Jacobs is “very bullish” on the prospects for business in Saudi Arabia during efforts to diversify its economy and boost non-oil sectors, but acknowledged it will not happen overnight.

“I think it takes time … this is part of a major shift in economic strategy, it's not in a hurry,” he told The National.

“There is so much product being built: so many hotels, towns, employee housing. It's unprecedented what's being created in Saudi Arabia.”

Asked how confident he was in filling these hotels once they are opened, he added: “It will take some time. There is only so much domestic and regional tourism. International markets need to come.

“That interest internationally is there and it's going to come quicker than we originally thought a few years ago because the culture is so interesting, it's new frontiers from a global tourism perspective.

“The offering is extraordinary, it ticks every box.”

Six Senses is planning a 70-room hotel in Wadi Safar on a hill overlooking the golf course, he said.

It has already opened the Six Senses Southern Dunes, a desert resort in the kingdom's Red Sea tourism project. Its property in Amala is next to open within two years. Six Senses AlUla is scheduled to open in 2027.

Aman hotel's chief commercial officer Anna Nash said she has “a lot of confidence” in the Saudi market.

“Every time we come to this destination, we see the change and the impact it is having. It is moving very fast. We have a close relationship with the teams at the developers and we have every confidence,” she told The National.

Asked if she expected international tourists to drive growth, Ms Nash said: “You've got to be a part of this journey and you've got to be on board now to be a real part of that vision.

“We'll expect to receive guests from the local market but of course we'll be bringing Aman's global guests to this destination and they can see all that the kingdom has to offer.”

Aman Wadi Safar will have 78 rooms and 34 fully-serviced branded residences that are expected to open in 2026, she said.

Two Aman properties and one Janu hotel will open in AlUla, in addition to Aman Wadi Safar and Janu Diriyah.