We have spent the last few years fascinated by the futuristic renders of NEOM and its sci-fi city, The Line. It is easy to get lost in the sheer ambition of mirrors in the desert and flying taxis. But while the world was looking at the Red Sea coast, a much more grounded and immediate economic shift had been taking place right on the doorstep of Riyadh.
The recent moves at Qiddiya, specifically the push to secure a Universal Studios theme park, signal that Saudi Arabia is done just dreaming about the future. They are now aggressively building for the present. The Kingdom is moving beyond ultra-luxury eco-tourism. It is about capturing the middle class that has been taking its money elsewhere for decades.
You have to look at the numbers to understand why this is happening. For years, there has been a massive hole in the Saudi economy called “tourism leakage.” Wealthy and middle-class families in the Kingdom spend billions of dollars annually travelling to Dubai, London, and Orlando just to have fun. They go there because, frankly, there was nowhere to go at home.
Qiddiya is the multi-billion-dollar plug for that hole. With the “Six Flags Park” finally opening its gates in late 2025 and featuring record-breaking rides like Falcon’s Flight, the message is clear. The Kingdom wants those riyals spent domestically.
The discussions around bringing Universal Studios to the site are the cherry on top. It validates the idea that Saudi Arabia is not just a niche destination for adventure travellers but a legitimate competitor to established family hubs like Singapore and Orlando.
This pivot is fascinating because it is so pragmatic. While NEOM is about inventing a new way of life, Qiddiya is about perfecting a business model that we already know works. It is the business of “staying over.” You see, a single theme park is nice, but it only gets you day-trippers.
A cluster of parks, like what they are building with Six Flags, the water park, and potentially Universal, creates a destination. It forces families to book hotels for three or four nights. That is where the real money is in the tourism industry. It is the multiplier effect of dining, retail, and accommodation that transforms a simple amusement park into an economic engine.
We also need to talk about the cultural production side of this, because it is not just about importing American roller coasters. The opening of “PlayMaker Studios” in Qiddiya City in December 2025 is a huge piece of the puzzle that people are overlooking. If you are going to build a tourism economy, you need to own the narrative.
By building state-of-the-art soundstages and offering massive cash rebates to international filmmakers, Saudi Arabia is trying to do what New Zealand did with “The Lord of the Rings.” They want to turn their landscapes into advertisements that run in cinemas around the world. It is a soft power play that feeds directly back into the tourism strategy. You watch the movie, then you book the flight to see where it was filmed.
The competition is going to be fierce, though. You have Abu Dhabi just a short flight away, and they have spent years building up Yas Island with Ferrari World and Warner Bros. But Qiddiya has a secret weapon that the UAE does not. It has a massive domestic population. Saudi Arabia has over 30 million people, and the vast majority of them are young, bored, and hungry for entertainment.
That is a built-in safety net that allows them to take risks like this. They do not need to rely 100% on international tourists to keep the lights on. They just need to convince their own citizens to stay home for the holidays. If they can land Universal Studios, that pitch becomes a whole lot easier.
In 2024, domestic travellers accounted for 86.2 million of Saudi Arabia’s 115.9 million total tourists, contributing over 115.3 billion SAR (USD 30.7 billion) directly to the local economy. Saudi Arabia is already seeing an increase in Hajj pilgrims and foreign tourists. By harnessing the spending power of its local population, the Kingdom ensures that the money stays within its economy.