The headline news reports of Saudi Arabia’s tourism transformation, more often than not, focus on giga-projects, huge sporting and entertainment events, or ambitious visitor targets. But a key growth engine may be something subtler, and far more powerful: tourism clustering.

Tourism clusters create a growth ecosystem that amplifies value, extends dwell time, and builds brand equity. Around the world, it is clustering — not isolated projects — that turns destinations into global icons.

And in Saudi Arabia today, clustering is already taking shape.

Why Tourism Clusters Matter

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector now contributes over 10% of GDP and supports 2.7 million jobs. To sustain this pace of growth, tourism clustering needs to work alongside individual mega-projects to provide the required level of visitor engagement and demand – integrated precincts that turn heritage, hospitality, retail, and experiences into mutually reinforcing assets are just as important as the main attractions in achieving The Kingdom’s visitor number and tourism spend targets.

The three key benefits of tourism clustering are:

1. Multiplying Impact

One attraction draws interest, but a bundle of experiences drives exponential gains. When heritage, dining, shopping, and events sit side by side, each supports the other. Visitors spend more, stay longer, and talk about the destination as a whole, not just a single site.

2. Increasing Average Length of Stay

Tourism economics depend on more than arrivals — they hinge on time and spend per visitor. Clusters stretch a one-hour visit into a half-day, a day trip into an overnight stay, and weekend stays into a week-long vacation. They add layers of discovery that keep visitors engaged.

3. Creating Gateways

Strong clusters don’t only succeed on their own; they become anchors for wider regional exploration. Visitors use them as bases to reach new destinations, creating a hub-and-spoke effect that accelerates national tourism development.

Diriyah: Saudi Arabia’s Most Advanced Cluster

Diriyah today stands out in two distinct ways.

• First, it is the Kingdom’s most developed tourism destination to date. Unlike giga-projects still under construction, Diriyah is already welcoming international visitors at scale — with 3.6 million visits in the first half of 2025 and SAR 18.75 billion in fresh investment. At-Turaif’s UNESCO World Heritage status provides authenticity, while Bujairi Terrace sets new benchmarks for dining, retail, and cultural programming. It is well known that there are ambitious plans in place to very significantly increase Diriyah’s number of tourism assets in terms of hotels, retail, F&B, pop-up events and attraction features in years’ to come, however it is already an established tourism centre in its own right.
• Second, Diriyah is also the clearest example of tourism clustering in action. What makes it work is not a single attraction but the way multiple elements interlock: heritage at the centre, supported by hospitality, retail, food, and events. At-Turaif draws visitors in, but without Bujairi Terrace and cultural programming, many of those 3.6 million visits would be far shorter and lower-spending. The cluster model is what converts footfall into dwell time and spend.

In this sense, Diriyah itself is a cluster, though its proximity to Riyadh strengthens its role as part of a wider metropolitan tourism ecosystem. Visitors can land in Riyadh, enjoy its hotels and events, then move seamlessly into Diriyah for culture and leisure. This city–precinct dynamic is powerful: Riyadh supplies international access and urban infrastructure, while Diriyah concentrates experiences into a walkable heritage district. Conversely, the increased hotel assets planned for Diriyah in future years will increase the room stock in the wider Riyadh metropolitan area, which has experienced very high demand in recent times and is likely to increase with growing visitor numbers.

The result is a destination that functions both as a standalone cluster and as a hub within a larger Riyadh cluster, providing proof that clustering can transform visitor behaviour and create sustainable economic impact.

Beyond Diriyah: A National Pattern

Saudi Arabia’s broader tourism landscape shows clustering emerging elsewhere:

• The Red Sea Project: Designed as an archipelago of island nodes, each with a complementary role — from ultra-luxury resorts to diving hubs and eco-retreats. The recent launch of Laheq Island reflects how the project is sequencing assets to encourage cross-visitation between islands rather than relying on a single destination experience.
• AlUla: A multi-district model where heritage (Hegra and the Old Town), wellness retreats, festivals, and accommodation are deliberately distributed to create layered itineraries. The aim is to convert short cultural visits into multi-day stays, with visitors moving fluidly between districts.
• Aseer: An emerging mountain leisure cluster with a natural cool-climate advantage. The SEVEN Entertainment Complex is set to anchor this cluster, complemented by hiking, local culture, and seasonal festivals. This approach positions Aseer as a year-round domestic and international destination, balancing the seasonality of coastal tourism.

Each of these emerging destinations is applying the same principle demonstrated at Diriyah: clustering assets to create more than the sum of their parts.

Learning From Global Parallels

Tourism clustering is a well-established global practice, however with legacy destinations clustering was more accidental than deliberate, especially in the early development stages – some examples include:

1. Andalusia (Spain)

• Accidental origins: Seville, Córdoba, and Granada developed as independent centres of Islamic and later Spanish heritage. Their clustering is a product of geography and history (close proximity along key Andalusian trade routes), not tourism planning.
• Tourism later capitalised: In the 20th century, tour operators and later regional tourism boards began packaging them into the “Andalusian cultural circuit.”

2. Northern Italy

• Accidental origins: Milan (commerce / fashion), Venice (maritime republic / heritage), and Lake Como (natural retreat) each had very different historic functions. They became linked in itineraries only later as transport improved and Italy marketed itself as a multi-stop luxury/culture destination.
• Tourism later capitalised: These cities weren’t designed to reinforce each other, but visitor demand and accessibility created the premium circuit we know today.

3. California

• Accidental origins: San Francisco (port city), Napa Valley (wine-growing), and Yosemite (protected wilderness) developed separately for economic, agricultural, and conservation reasons. Only later did they become a classic hub-and-spoke for domestic and international tourism, thanks largely to car travel and marketing by Visit California.
• Tourism later capitalised: This is a textbook example of how organic clusters emerge from geography and later get “curated” into itineraries.

The difference with Saudi Arabia is that it is now applying this logic at a scale few countries have attempted — building clusters purposefully from the outset.

Why Clustering Is Saudi’s Competitive Edge

Saudi Arabia has the ambition, the investment, and the assets. But its real differentiator will be how well it clusters these assets:

• To increase per-capita spend.
• To attract increased private investment.
• To build globally recognisable destination brands.

In my work across various Saudi tourism entities, I’ve seen that the shift from isolated projects to integrated clusters is what makes strategies stick. It’s not just about building attractions; it’s about connecting them.

Closing Thought

Saudi Arabia’s tourism future won’t be defined solely by headline visitor numbers. It will be defined by how destinations are clustered — how heritage, hospitality, and culture converge to create depth, dwell time, and identity.

Diriyah shows the way. Red Sea, AlUla, and Aseer are following close behind. Together, they prove that tourism clusters are Saudi Arabia’s emerging growth engine.

 

STEVEN RICE is a tourism, sport and leisure consultant who has worked with national tourism bodies, giga-projects, and private sector leaders across the Middle East and internationally. A former CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, he has advised various government, corporate and private entities in the Middle East and Europe regions. He is Founder and CEO of Big Wheel Marketing, with offices in Ireland and the UAE.

Contact – steven@bigwheel.org
Tel: + 353 86 381 1563