KSIA, developed by the Public Investment Fund, is envisioned to become a world-class travel hub, handling more than 100 million passengers annually in the near term and as many as 185 million by 2050. The airport’s leadership highlighted that the partnership with TOURISE reinforces its mandate to enable destination-based growth and national diversification under the framework of Saudi Vision 2030.
Marco Mejia, acting CEO of KSIA, said the collaboration “extends our vision … to enable travel and tourism as part of an integrated economic ecosystem”. He emphasised that the future of tourism lies in smart connectivity between infrastructure and destinations—a clear signal that transport and accommodation sectors are to be treated as part of a unified growth model. The partnership emphasises KSIA’s role not simply as an airport but as a gateway and platform for tourism investment and innovation.
TOURISE 2025, which is organised by the Saudi Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, will convene global tourism leaders, technology firms and investment-platform stakeholders to map out future directions in connectivity, digital services and destination development. Topics expected at the summit include sustainable tourism operations, logistics optimisation, smart infrastructure, and integrating airport hubs with wider tourism ecosystems.
The airport’s strategic involvement signals several key trends. First, aviation assets are increasingly being viewed as central to tourism strategy rather than mere transport nodes. KSIA’s large scale—covering some 57 km² and featuring six runways and nine terminals—underlines its ambition to position Riyadh as a major travel crossroads. Second, the focus on sustainability and smart connectivity reflects an understanding that tourism growth must balance capacity with environmental and operational efficiency. Third, by aligning with TOURISE 2025, KSIA is signalling a shift from purely passenger throughput to creating a coherent value chain: from arrival to experience, investment to service delivery.
Challenges remain. Building out KSIA’s full capabilities will require significant capital investment, regulatory alignment and talent development. The integration of logistics and tourism under one umbrella risks complexity: managing cargo services, passenger flows, tourism-related retail, hospitality and ground transport demands careful coordination. Observers note that while Saudi Arabia has moved fast in aviation infrastructure, the challenge of filling capacity and delivering service quality at scale remains. As one industry analyst put it: “The asset is there, but the question is how the ecosystem will operate around it.”
The partnership between KSIA and TOURISE also reflects the Kingdom’s broader economic diversification drive. Non-oil revenue growth has become a cornerstone of national policy, and tourism is key to that transformation. By aligning an airport of KSIA’s scale with a global summit like TOURISE, the state is signalling seriousness about connecting infrastructure investment with global tourism flows. However, converting that ambition into sustainable visitor numbers and economic impact will depend on multiple factors: visa regimes, service standards, destination appeal, logistics infrastructure beyond the airport, and global tourism trends.
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Saudi Arabia