Hajj and Umrah seasons, which are essential drivers of the market, were canceled, meaning that the industry has lost millions of domestic and international pilgrims over the past year.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia had been focusing on improving investment opportunities in the hospitality sector through the introduction of several projects, such as Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Amaala, NEOM, AlUla and the Wadi Al-Disah Development.
According to Manikis, Saudi consumers travel in big families, stay longer, and like to have certain amenities and facilities when they travel.
Earlier this month, a report found that Saudi Arabia has the world’s biggest hotel pipeline, anticipating a 67.1 percent increase in room supply over the next three years, the highest among the 50 most populated countries.
Fahad Al-Baddah, the authority’s general supervisor of operations and digital transformation, said the authority is keen to strengthen its partnership with the private sector to achieve one of the Kingdom’s strategic goals of becoming a regional and international logistics hub.
Al-Baddah said these efforts aim to boost the quality of services and sustainability of the Kingdom’s private transport sector.
Oil prices rose to a six-week high amid bullish oil demand and a positive outlook for the US economy, despite fears the recovery demand will be impacted by the resurgence of coronavirus infections in India.
This is because market sentiment remains supportive and the cautious approach in the second quarter seems to be fading away.
On the other hand, some Indian refiners struggled to postpone maintenance plans, while other refiners faced delays with restarts as they battled to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The latest figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on April 27 showed that long positions on crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange numbered 654,289 contracts, down by 2,521 contracts from the previous week .