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TOURISM - RAMI ALMOALLIM, VP OF MARKETING AND DESTINATION MANAGEMENT, THE ROYAL COMMISSION FOR ALULA: "THIS IS OUR IDENTITY, THIS IS OUR HERITAGE – AND THIS IS HOW WE USED TO LIVE" (Saudi Arabia)
The tourism leader discusses AlUla's transformation into a world-class destination while preserving its cultural authenticity. |
Category: Middle East - Saudi Arabia - Industry economy
- Interviews and portraits
- Tourism - Interviews - Industry leaders
Interview made by Sonia Taourghi on Monday 28 July 2025
 Rami AlMoallim, VP of Marketing and Destination Management, The Royal Commission for AlUla during the ATM 2025 in Dubai
Photo credit © Sonia Taourghi / Journal des Palaces
AlMoallim oversees one of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious tourism projects – developing AlUla as a sustainable luxury destination while maintaining the delicate balance between modern tourism infrastructure and ancient cultural preservation. The ancient oasis, spanning 22,561 square kilometres of extraordinary natural and cultural heritage, has evolved from a predominantly archaeological site into a luxury destination offering wellness retreats, adventure experiences, and cultural immersion. This transformation reflects the broader evolution occurring across the Middle East's travel landscape, where traditional destinations are being reimagined for contemporary luxury travellers.
Following the success of its inaugural "Forever Revitalising" global brand campaign launched in February 2024, AlUla recorded an impressive 9% growth in visitation and a remarkable 20% increase in occupied room nights, demonstrating the destination's growing appeal to discerning international visitors. With over 760 curated activations and experiences delivered last year alone, AlUla exemplifies how heritage sites can adapt to modern travel trends while preserving their essential character. This approach particularly resonates with younger, purpose-driven travellers seeking meaningful connections with heritage and nature.
Journal des Palaces: How has AlUla's accommodation infrastructure developed, and what are your expansion targets?
Rami AlMoallim: Our development has been remarkable. We currently have more than 940 rooms across the destination, from ultra-luxury properties to shared accommodations. This gives visitors real choice in how they want to experience AlUla.
Our target for 2025 is ambitious – we aim to reach around 1,422 keys by year-end. But this isn't just about adding more beds. We're creating an ecosystem where every property adds something to the AlUla story. Each new hotel or resort is carefully woven into our landscape and culture, so development enhances rather than overwhelms what makes this place special.
You've transformed from seasonal programming to year-round experiences. Can you elaborate on this strategic shift?
This transformation represents a fundamental evolution in our approach. Previously, we operated with seasonal events that occurred during specific periods. Today, we're actively programming year-round experiences. Last year alone, we delivered around 760 activations and experiences, reflecting our commitment to making AlUla a destination worth visiting throughout the year.
These experiences span every interest: wellness offerings for those seeking rejuvenation, celebrations and concerts for entertainment enthusiasts, cultural activities for heritage lovers, and adventure experiences for thrill-seekers. What makes these special is that they're all inspired by our core principles: culture, heritage, wellness, adventure, and fitness.
Every experience is curated to keep visitors connected to AlUla's essence. Whether attending a concert under our starlit skies or participating in adventure activities, they'll discover elements of our culture, sustainability efforts, wildlife preservation, conservation programmes, agri-tourism, or astro-tourism woven throughout. This approach aligns perfectly with travellers who seek purpose in their journeys – they want to travel for meaning, not just leisure.
Who represents your ideal visitor profile, and how do your recent numbers reflect this targeting strategy?
We're very deliberate about who we target because sustainable tourism needs thoughtful curation. While everyone is welcome, we particularly attract luxury travellers, discerning voyagers, and adventure seekers – people who genuinely love nature and want real connections with the places they visit.
Our main segments are young to middle-aged couples, sophisticated solo travellers, and culturally curious visitors who value authenticity. The numbers prove this works: last year, we welcomed 286,259 visitors, and we're targeting a 35% increase this year – around 381,000 visitors.
But we're not chasing mass tourism. Our philosophy is about finding the right balance between development and managing visitor numbers. We want controlled, thoughtful growth because our goal goes beyond immediate success – it's about preservation and legacy. We want people to enjoy AlUla today while ensuring that four or five generations from now, they can experience it exactly as we are today.
How do you address cultural sensitivity while attracting diverse international visitors?
This question goes to the heart of who we are. When I reflect on what defines me as a person, it's my cultural identity, not my personality, which is evident in my personal relationships, but rather my fundamental cultural identity, shaped by generations of heritage.
This is exactly what we share when people visit AlUla; this is who we are, our authentic identity, our living heritage, and how we used to live – and in many ways, still do today. When visitors come here, they're not experiencing some manufactured tourist attraction; they're discovering who we really are.
As for specific cultural practices, such as alcohol consumption, these are personal choices that vary from culture to culture. We respect the whole world and its diversity, and we simply expect people to respect who we are and how we live. No one would struggle to go without alcohol for a few days or a week during their visit. What we offer goes far beyond any single lifestyle choice – it's about mutual respect, cultural exchange, and discovering something much deeper than typical tourist experiences.
What connectivity infrastructure have you developed to make AlUla accessible to international luxury travellers?
Connectivity has been crucial to our growth, and we've made significant improvements. We now operate more than 50 flights per week to AlUla, providing excellent access while maintaining the exclusive feel that luxury travellers expect.
Our main connections are from Riyadh, with numerous daily flights throughout the week for both domestic and international travellers. From Dubai, we have three weekly flights, and from Doha, two flights in summer that increase to four in winter when demand peaks. We also have connections with Oman and Bahrain, both of which operate twice-weekly to AlUla.
This variety, facilitated through major regional hubs, means travellers from anywhere can easily connect and arrive directly in AlUla using their preferred airlines. Looking ahead to 2030, there's potential for direct international connections from key markets; however, our current approach provides excellent access while offering travellers the flexibility they expect from luxury travel.
How are you developing local talent while ensuring authentic community engagement in the growth of tourism?
This is our most important work because we're building this destination for our local community. We have three main programmes covering different aspects of community development and cultural preservation.
Our scholarship programme has sent more than 200 local students to study tourism and hospitality at top European institutions. They're studying everything from culinary arts to tourism management and specialised areas we've developed for AlUla's unique needs. Once they graduate, they return ready to work with hotels and tourism companies here. Many of our international partners have already hired graduates, creating this perfect mix of global expertise and local knowledge.
Our second programme, "Hamaya" – meaning "protection" in Arabic – focuses on AlUla's young people, teaching them about their heritage and culture while training them to become advocates and protectors of our legacy. This intensive one-year programme prepares them across multiple subjects, so by the time they finish secondary school, they're ready for university or to start working immediately.
The third programme, our Rawi initiative – the Arabic word for storytellers – has yielded the most visible results. When you visit our heritage sites, the people sharing the stories are locals from AlUla talking about their own history and family heritage. You can feel their genuine pride when they tell stories about their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Some will point to specific spots and say, "My grandfather actually lived and worked right here" – it creates these amazing, authentic connections between visitors and our community.
These Alrowah (plural for rawi) have received world-class training and now speak Arabic, English, French, German, and Chinese fluently, allowing us to connect meaningfully with visitors from around the globe while maintaining authenticity.
What sustainability and conservation efforts define AlUla's development approach?
Sustainability is the foundation of everything we do at AlUla. More than 60% of our destination is protected natural reserves, and we're committed to maintaining these environments while bringing historical wildlife populations back to healthy levels.
We're running comprehensive restoration programmes for wildlife species that used to thrive here. Our Arabian Leopard preservation programme is our most significant conservation initiative, and it's gaining international momentum, becoming a global effort that attracts support from wildlife organisations worldwide. The critically endangered Arabian Leopard isn't just a species we're trying to save – it's become a symbol of our commitment to environmental stewardship.
Our "Forever Revitalising" campaign, launched last February, has been key to communicating our conservation philosophy internationally. We launched across nine markets, took part in major trade shows, and presented our sustainability message in six languages. The response has been extraordinary – we're seeing much more openness from travellers who want to experience what AlUla represents.
The campaign delivered measurable results, including a 7-point increase in brand awareness, over 10,000 international articles, and a PR value of SAR 926 million. It has attracted luxury travel advisors and premium networks that want to partner with us to reach travellers seeking destinations that align with their values around sustainability and cultural preservation. Our approach demonstrates that luxury tourism and environmental conservation can mutually benefit each other when managed with wisdom and long-term thinking.
 Ahmed Alimam meeting with visitors during the ATM 2025 in Dubai
Photo credit © Sonia Taourghi / Journal des Palaces
 Ahmed Alimam, the first rawi of AlUla - ATM 2025 in Dubai
Photo credit © Sonia Taourghi / Journal des Palaces
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