First Saudi-owned duty-free operator...

Sovereign wealth fund targets travel retail sector

Saudi is aiming for a slice of the US$70 billion travel retail market with the launch of Al Waha Duty-Free Company, a first for the Middle East country.

Owned by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Al Waha will develop luxury retail outlets in select locations across the kingdom, including airports and land borders and ports, plus provide inflight shopping.

As well as selling international luxury branded goods, it will showcase Saudi products, which may include coffee, dates and camel milk products made by PIF-backed companies.

Majed Al-Assaf, Head of Consumer Goods and Retail in MENA Investments at PIF, said the fund's aim was to "grow the Saudi travel retail industry" and further support its ambitions for the tourism sector in the kingdom.

“There is considerable potential for Saudi to gain a larger share of travel retail spending in the future, and the continued increase in visitors coming to Saudi – as well as global events being hosted locally – offer new opportunities to generate sustainable travel retail revenues.”

Those events include the FIFA World Cup which heads to Saudi in 2034, the 2029 Asian Winter Games and regular high-profile sporting events such as the annual Formula 1 race in Jeddah.

With around US$925 billion in assets under management, PIF has already invested heavily in tourism, aviation and retail in line with Vision 2030 which aims to transform the nation’s economy. They include Riyadh’s King Salman International Airport with a capacity for 120 million passengers per year, new flag carrier Riyadh Air which will take to the skies later in 2025, and Cruise Saudi, which launched its first ship in December 2024.

Saudi saw air passenger numbers rise 15% in 2024, reaching 128 million, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in its Air Traffic 2024 Report. Of those, 59 million (46%) were on domestic flights and 69 million (54%) on international routes.

Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport was recently awarded the title of the Most On-Time Global Airport, with 86.65% of flights departing on time.

For more information, visit www.pif.gov.sa/en

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