The Public Investment Fund launched Gulf Coast Development to build an integrated tourism and residential destination at Al-Khafji covering approximately 20 square kilometres with 10 kilometres of Arabian Gulf waterfront. The plan runs to 8 residential neighbourhoods, more than 16,000 housing units and around 1,400 hotel keys across 3 main phases, with 3 neighbourhoods in the first phase completing in 2030, plus public, commercial, tourism and educational facilities and boat marinas, targeting visitors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the wider Gulf.
This project is based on 16,000 homes instead of 1,400 hotel rooms. If you are selling here, focus on residential supply and Kuwaiti buyers from abroad, not on hospitality procurement.
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Saudi carries half of Gulf tourism
Saudi Arabia's travel and tourism sector contributed $178 billion to the economy in 2025, 46% of the entire Middle East's travel and tourism economy, growing 7.4%, nearly double the global rate of 4.1%, with international visitor spending up 8.2% against a 3.2% global rate.
Nearly half of the entire region's tourism economy now lies in Saudi Arabia, growing at twice the global rate, a shift large enough that the map of Middle Eastern travel needs to be redrawn before the guidebooks catch up.
Three fifty-nine of five ninety
BlackRock's report puts Saudi Arabia at 359 of the 590 private-capital funds closed in the Middle East since 2015, or about 61%, against 143 in the UAE and 88 across other regional markets. Middle East sovereign wealth funds allocate 43.2% of assets to private capital against 35% for peers elsewhere, regional venture capital averaged $2.4 billion of deal value a year between 2021 and 2025 with a peak of $3.5 billion in 2022, and the GCC is entering an estimated $2.1 trillion investment cycle through 2030.
Holding 359 of 590 regional funds is not just a fundraising advantage; it is a gravitational force. Managers must now be in Riyadh to participate in the market.
School fees hit the card data
Point-of-sale spending fell 2.8% to SR14.19 billion ($3.79 billion) in the week ended 15 August across 249.68 million transactions, down 1.5%, while education transactions jumped 62.7% week on week to SR446.08 million. Food and beverages led at SR2.2 billion, down 3.7%, and Riyadh accounted for SR4.84 billion across 79.80 million transactions.
The 62.7% increase in education spending, despite a 2.8% overall decline, reflects a calendar effect rather than increased consumer confidence. Households shifted funds rather than increasing total spending.
