Why I Want Saudi Tourism to Succeed, And What It Will Take

This essay marks the launch of Connecting the Dots, a new bi-weekly newsletter written by CEO and Founder Rafat Ali. Sign up today to receive it regularly.

I’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks in Saudi Arabia — first at FII, then at the Tourise Summit — observing the kingdom’s tourism apparatus up close. But my connection to Saudi runs deeper than a business trip. My parents lived here in the late 1990s. My sister and cousins have raised their families here, and their children are growing up as beautiful hybrids of Saudi and Indian cultures. They’re keen on settling here permanently, if regulations allow.

As a modern Muslim, I want Saudi to succeed, but in the right way. For decades, the kingdom’s extremist strains caused profound harm to Muslims worldwide, weaponized in ways that damaged communities and countries. Saudi’s transformation isn’t just about tourism or economics. It’s about redefining what this country means to 1.8 billion Muslims who have watched its influence with complicated feelings.

So when I observe what’s happening now, I bring both hope and clear-eyed scrutiny.

Saudi is aiming for stars beyond the Milky Way. They’re still building the space station that may take them somewhere in between. That’s genuine progress for a country that barely existed as a leisure destination five years ago. But the global travel community needs more honest conversation than we’ve been willing to have.

The numbers being circulated — visitor arrivals and investment figures — don’t always match reality. I won’t dwell on this because everyone in serious conversations already knows it. But inflated metrics undermine sound business decisions.

What strikes me more is the strategic misalignment. The kingdom’s intense focus on courting Western tourists and investment overlooks what it already possesses: the world’s largest annual religious gathering and guaranteed annual visitation for Umrah; substantial VFR traffic from families like mine; and proximity to Asia’s emerging middle class.

This is where the real opportunity lies. Asia represents the future of global tourism, with massive population scale, rising disposable incomes, cultural affinity, and geographic accessibility. Saudi is positioned perfectly to capture this wave, yet remains fixated on attracting Europeans and Americans who require far more convincing and offer less sustainable volume.

Saudi should build from strength and focus on Muslim families who already come, VFR traffic that needs better infrastructure, and Asian tourists seeking new destinations. Leisure and business tourism will grow organically from that foundation, not from announcements that sometimes outpace execution.

Here’s why the world should care about getting this right:

Saudi’s transformation represents something larger than tourism development. It’s a test case for whether a society can modernize while maintaining cultural identity, whether religious heritage can coexist with leisure tourism, whether rapid change can happen without losing meaning.

The stakes extend beyond the kingdom’s borders. Saudi’s success in building a more open, culturally confident, economically diversified society would reshape perceptions across the Muslim world and beyond.

For my family and millions like us who navigate multiple cultural identities, Saudi’s evolution matters deeply. For the travel industry, it represents both genuine opportunity and necessary caution.

For those evaluating Saudi Arabia: Be genuinely impressed by transformation speed and scale. Be equally clear-eyed about the distance between aspiration and current reality. Engage with patience anchored in realism. Push gently but persistently for accuracy over exaggeration. Help them build on genuine strengths — the Hajj and Umrah infrastructure, the VFR base, the Asian proximity — rather than manufactured Western tourist fantasies.

I want Saudi to succeed because my family is there, because my faith’s holiest sites are there, because the world needs examples of societies that can evolve thoughtfully. That success requires partners willing to invest in the right foundation, not those chasing inflated projections.

Building the space station matters. Now comes the harder work of building something sustainable from there.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This essay marks the launch of Connecting the Dots, a new bi-weekly newsletter written by CEO and Founder Rafat Ali. Sign up today to receive it regularly.