Wealthy Saudis bask in an artificial oasis on salmon-colored dunes, spending lavishly in the midst of a pandemic, at a time when the oil kingdom seeks to boost its domestic tourism.
The coronavirus has hampered Saudi Arabia's ambitions to become a new tourist and entertainment destination, to get the country, the world's largest exporter of crude, out of its hyper-dependence on black gold.
Read also: Covid-19: Saudi Arabia begins vaccination of the public
The organization of music festivals, sports competitions in front of a mixed audience and the reopening of cinemas, long banned, are major innovations that have shaken Saudi society in recent years.
“
Riyadh Oasis
”, located near the capital, serves as an upscale retreat in the desert.
With its palm-fringed ponds, pop-up restaurants and luxury tents, it attracts the wealthiest Saudis, accustomed to spending billions of dollars abroad.
"
Water, palm trees, sand: the oasis has it all
", launches a Saudi guide to visitors, surrounded by an armada of luxury Maserati or Bentley cars.
Unveiled in mid-January for a three-month season, the costly entry oasis has sparked resentment among the less fortunate, in a country facing austerity measures, where all are far from rich. .
"
The oasis is aimed at very wealthy Saudis, targeting those who could not go to the United States or Europe for their annual getaways
," a Riyadh-based banker told AFP.
The Gulf countries, and Saudi Arabia in particular, are major suppliers of wealthy, particularly spendthrift tourists.
According to the Dublin-based analysis center Research and Markets, the annual tourism market from Saudi Arabia is expected to reach more than $ 43 billion by 2025. Some $ 18.7 billion has been spent by tourists Saudis abroad in 2019, according to a report by the Saudi central bank.
Saudi Arabia has extended the ban on foreign travel for its citizens until May 17, due to a delay in the arrival of coronavirus vaccines, according to the government.
This decision also helps to stimulate spending in the local economy.
Official data in recent months has shown a spike in domestic tourism and hotel bookings.
However, a survey this month by tourism company Almosafer estimates that 80% of Saudis plan to travel abroad within six months of lifting travel restrictions.
The kingdom is building for hundreds of billions of dollars a Walt Disney-style amusement park called Qiddiya, as well as a luxury Maldives-like resort along the Red Sea.
"
These developments should encourage more local spending,
" said a 2019 report from international consulting firm McKinsey.
“
Currently, over 50% of Saudi spending on leisure and entertainment is made outside the kingdom, with categories such as luxury approaching 70%,
” he adds.
In the oasis located near Riyadh, you have to pay some 13,000 riyals (nearly 3,000 euros) for a night in a “
glamp
”
tent
(contraction of the words “
glamor
” and “
camping
”).
“
Glamps cost me almost a month's salary.
They are targeting the cream of the crop, the richest 1%
, ”a Saudi media employee, who requested anonymity, told AFP in a country notoriously intolerant of freedom of expression.
Adel Al-Rajab, the managing director of Seven Experience, a company behind the oasis, admitted that it
was not
"
aimed at everyone
".
"
You don't expect the masses to go to five or six star hotels,
" he told AFP.
"
This approach only for the rich could backfire
," a Western official based in the Gulf told AFP.
The kingdom "
will have to strike a balance between high prices and a wider inclusion of Saudis,
" he said.