“’Being the World’s Largest Living Laboratory for Tourism’ — Inside Saudi Arabia’s Bold New Strategy”

By Yousuf Basil | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

From neuroscience to authentic human connection, Fahd Hamidaddin describes how Saudi Arabia is reimagining the traveler experience.

At the inaugural TOURISE Summit 2025 in Riyadh, the mood was unmistakable — confident, energetic, and future-focused. Just days after the United Nations Tourism General Assembly convened in the Gulf region for the first time, Saudi Arabia seized the momentum. TOURISE was more than a gathering; it marked a moment when the Kingdom signaled its intent to lead the next half-century of global tourism.

At the center of this movement stood Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority — articulating the vision of a new kind of tourism philosophy:  one that blends data and empathy, technology and authenticity, ambition and soul.

Beyond Hotels and Holidays: The Consumption Economy

For Hamidaddin, the very definition of tourism is being rewritten. “Tourism,” he said, “is not just your hotel room — it’s everything you do from the moment you plan your trip to the moment you return.”

That ecosystem stretches from visa applications and flights to shopping, sports, entertainment, and mobility. In his view, the tourism economy is a “consumption economy” — vast, interconnected, and capable of uniting industries that have traditionally worked in isolation.

“Our role,” he explained, “is to bring all of them under one roof — policymakers, tech innovators, retailers, mobility providers — so that tourism becomes the common platform for solving challenges and unlocking opportunities that no single sector can achieve alone.”

The Soul of Travel

Hamidaddin described travel as both an economic and deeply emotional experience. “Travel can be a soulful experience,” he said.

To understand that soul, the Saudi Tourism Authority has launched intensive research into why people travel, not just where. “What we mean by that is you go really deep into the underlying reason why people travel before you just think of categorizing them,” he explained. You have to discover why they travel.

He identified three higher-value drivers that motivate travelers:

Connection: “There are groups that are driven by connection,” he said. “I want to go either with my spouse or I want to go with my brothers or the family and kids and my friends for the sake of finding experiences that we will together enjoy and create better connections.”

Achievement: “The second is I want to feel a sense of achievement, and I want to reward myself. I work hard, I earn, and I just want to make sure that I start making it to new places… take pictures of it, tick the bucket lists, and so on.”

Escape & Discovery: “And then you have the rest that want to escape the environment that they’re in and immerse in different places — from cultures to nature — and not just discover other places, but allow those places to help them discover themselves.”

To deepen that understanding, neuroscientists from Oxford University were enlisted to develop the Memory Ability Index, mapping what travelers remember most and why. “We try to map what drives that memorability with each and every segment,” Hamidaddin said. The insights, he explained, are shared with partners to help tailor content and experiences that resonate on an emotional level — turning data into design for more meaningful journeys.

AI = Authenticity and Innovation

Humanizing delight and the unexpected

When asked how Saudi Arabia is preparing its workforce for the future, Hamidaddin said the guiding principle behind its tourism strategy has long been what he calls the AI model — not artificial intelligence, but Authenticity and Innovation.

“We should always balance between the two,” he said, “because what you need is to digitize friction, digitize the expected, but make sure you humanize delight. You humanize the unexpected.”

He emphasized that this balance isn’t about job protection, but about enhancing the traveler experience. By using technology to handle the predictable moments and people to elevate the emotional ones, the goal, he said, is to ensure that “the last mile remains human.”

Hamidaddin describes authenticity as the power to reveal the lesser-known — small villages, neighborhoods, and cultural experiences that connect travelers to the real Saudi Arabia — while innovation drives creativity and technology forward. Yet even in a digital age, he noted, “we all will need that human interaction.”

Saudi Arabia’s Living Laboratory

As the conversation turned to future disruptors — artificial intelligence, shifting demographics, and changing traveler expectations — Hamidaddin’s answer was immediate:

“By one thing,” he said. “Being the global largest living laboratory for tourism.”

That line captured the essence of the summit and the Kingdom’s broader ambition: to make Saudi Arabia a place where ideas are tested, data informs design, and human creativity drives innovation in travel.

A New Confidence

In Riyadh, amid the hum of the TOURISE Summit, that confidence was palpable. For Hamidaddin, “looking forward” is more than a slogan — it’s a mindset. “Trends,” he said, “simply look backward. What you need is to look forward.”

If the UN Tourism meeting set the global agenda, TOURISE showed how that agenda could come to life — through authenticity, innovation, and a shared belief that travel, at its best, helps people not only explore the world, but rediscover themselves.