Saudi Arabian city showcases its travel attractions in Shanghai
AlUla, an ancient oasis city in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, unveiled a range of efforts in Shanghai on Thursday to attract global travelers and boost its tourism market.
Located 1,100 kilometers from Riyadh, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage, featuring a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains, and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years to when the Lihyan and Nabataean kingdoms reigned.
The most well-known and recognized site in AlUla is Hegra, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. A 52-hectare ancient city, Hegra is comprised of 111 well-preserved tombs, many with elaborate facades cut out of the sandstone outcrops surrounding the walled urban settlement.
AlUla offers much for travellers to explore
As a new and emerging tourist destination, AlUla is set to embark on an exciting journey with the launch of its inaugural global brand campaign – Forever Revitalising – it announced in Shanghai.
It encapsulates the essence of AlUla, presenting a refreshing and authentic perspective crafted to captivate travellers worldwide, and the data-driven endeavour debuts across nine core global source markets in six languages, and will be integrated across multiple channels.
Signature events targeting travel trade partners in five major international cities – Dubai, London, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Mumbai – are also part of the plan.
"I love China, and I'm always impressed by what is happening in this country," said Melanie de Souza, executive director destination marketing at the Royal Commission for AlUla, in Shanghai.
"I'm impressed by the potential of the market, which is so amazing. Shanghai is so beautiful and yesterday I walked down the Bund and saw the beautiful lights and how gorgeous the city is looking.
"We are thinking through a China readiness program in terms of language, food and how we actually engage with them in terms of guides," she said. "We have started to talk to our destination management companies about what they and our hotels and our adventure operators need to do to facilitate the Chinese market."
In 2022, AlUla received 185,000 tourists and the number soared 44 percent in 2023.
AlUla is a new and emerging tourist destination.
