Saudi Arabia is pulling back government money from NEOM and its Red Sea resorts, redirecting Vision 2030 toward AI. The tourism moonshot is being scaled down.
But the renderings are running into a spreadsheet. In April, at an update to the Public Investment Fund’s 2026 to 2030 strategy, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said some priorities had been reshuffled and investment objectives repositioned “with greater focus on AI infrastructure and investments in AI companies.” Translated out of sovereign-wealth-fund language, the government is pulling money out of its biggest tourism bets and pushing it toward artificial intelligence instead. NEOM and the Red Sea Destination, the two projects that were supposed to define the new Saudi Arabia, are the ones getting trimmed but notably, they had the most to lose.
The country is still home to a Unesco World Heritage Site in Al Ula, mudbrick homes and an area that is often compared to Jordan’s Petra, but that is a step in the opposite direction on the timeline. While safer to build around, it’s firmly in the past and Saudi Arabia tourism wants to be a model for the future.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
