Luxury Travel’s New Arabian Era

Owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Red Sea Global is a developer, primarily of new tourism destinations located at the Red Sea including Amaala, that has most recently pivoted into operating a new generation of responsible and regenerative hospitality properties. 

Rosanna Chopra, the company’s executive director of destination development, elaborates on a new era of Arabian hospitality - an era The Future Laboratory outlined in our New Codes of Luxury: Saudi Arabia report (January, 2024). In this report, we explored how the region will fundamentally redefine what is considered ‘premium’ across multiple sectors – in particular, Travel & Hospitality.  

Chopra explains how this evolution is happening; how luxury hospitality will be underpinned by long-term eco-guardianship, how adventure and wellness travel are being redefined and what new gen luxury travellers want.

Luxury Guardianship

Chopra’s tenure at Red Sea Global has most recently seen it take a more vertically integrated approach, moving from a developer to becoming an operator itself. The reason? A long-term approach to both financial and environmental sustainability that firmly positions the group as a luxury guardian.

‘It’s this guardianship of it that you feel, I had it when I first visited,’ says Chopra of Saudi Arabia’s virgin landscape. ‘You get overwhelmed by how unbelievably beautiful it is. And then I got overwhelmed with how we protect it. What can we possibly do to make sure that this is preserved, and, to whatever extent possible, improved?’

For Chopra, asking not just ‘Can it be done?’ but ‘Can it be done well and by doing minimum harm?’ is integral to the feasibility of the company’s projects.

‘Are we going to be able to add value? Can this be done with regard to the environment, and at a socioeconomic level, in terms of hiring, up-skilling and opportunities for education and employment in all of the surrounding areas where our destinations are?’ says Chopra.

There’s no doubt that Red Sea Global’s government-backed investment allows it to take this longer-term approach, and not ‘stick short- to mid-term on the quality of our assets. ‘Until we take our rightful place on a global stage, we need to do it ourselves… we will make it feel that it’s a luxury experience, and therefore be able to charge more, hold more and protect more.’

Adventure and Wellness Expanded

The definitions of adventure travel and wellness tourism have broadened, according to Chopra, with both becoming integral to the future of the luxury hospitality landscape.

‘People are searching for something that can really make a lasting change on their physiology,’ explains Chopra. Placing wellness as an integral part of Red Sea Global’s resorts, Chopra has relished the opportunity to work with companies to develop their ‘bravest vision for wellness’. This includes the St Regis Red Sea Resort and Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, both on the Ummahat islands.

One brand in particular wanted to define its adults-only positioning. Chopra advised that it should be like an in-plane safety briefing when passengers are advised to put on their oxygen masks first before helping others.

‘You have to look after yourself before you’re in any state to look after anybody else. So if you’re looking at adults only, and you’re looking at couples only, what you’re actually saying is come to us and take your oxygen first, because by the time you go home, you will feel stronger and better. You will be a more grounded version to be able to look after those who depend on you, whether your colleague, your family or your kids.

‘So they said, ‘We like that. We’re going to use that. We’re going to become oxygen.’

The Luxury Traveller in 2030

Red Sea Global’s current focus is on domestic Saudi Arabian travellers and those from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. ‘They have travelled everywhere, and to some of the most extraordinary and exquisite places on the planet. They may be our greatest critics. But we’re not building things for the world at the moment,’ says Chopra.

Beyond this, she sees the Asian market as key – India, in particular. ‘There are lots of synergies there. They’re multi-generational travellers, very like Arab families. In Asia generally there are huge Muslim populations, so there’s a lot of familiarity with customs and culture.’ It’s a market that will be activated by greater air connectivity: in 2025, the new King Khalid mega-airport will open in Riyadh, along with a new airline, Riyadh Air.

‘And I think there will be the curious travellers,’ Chopra adds. ‘Europeans who are perhaps well travelled and excited about going somewhere new, where the level of service will match their expectations.’

Chopra believes the marinas, yacht clubs and clubhouses from Amala down to the Red Sea and further south are going to be an appealing proposition as an alternative Mediterranean winter destination.

But above all, younger luxury travellers are shaping the offer. Two-thirds of the population of Saudi Arabia are under the age of 30 (source: Reuters). Specifically, Chopra sees Gen Alpha as the ultimate drivers behind the travel experiences that the company is creating today.

‘They are highly digitally aware. They can research, they can review, they contribute significantly to family decision making because they are able to be informed themselves. They’re very stimulated by knowledge, illustration and animation. And so that’s where we’re going.’

It’s this curiosity and search for joy that underpins the destination development Chopra oversees.  ‘Sometimes our business is to sell joy. Where do you want to come and feel good, feel happy?’

Convinced that there’s no PowerPoint presentation that will ever define this strategy of joy within a business, Chopra has set about creating her own Book of Why? for the Red Sea, inspired by the innate curiosity of children, the kind that sparks shared generational knowledge. ‘When I went to the Red Sea I wondered why there were so many shades of blue, and why the coral doesn’t get bleached. I had all my own whys, and I’m an adult.’

Defining Middle Eastern Hospitality

Chopra believes there’s an authentic and inherently warm approach to hospitality embedded in Saudi Arabian culture that has yet to make its mark on the global luxury travel sector. ‘They are so warm, they’re so hospitable, and they are hilarious. Their humour is brilliant. They don’t just have a laugh at themselves, they will laugh with you. And with that humour comes all this joy that they want to share. And it doesn’t feel as though anything’s being manufactured. In fact, it’s a greater responsibility to not over curate and manufacture culture and heritage, because it’s so inherent everywhere and in everything.’

Matched with a generational pride among younger citizens, this inherent ‘spiritual, selfless’ hospitality, as Chopra labels it, will become a signature. ‘As more and more travellers come and have their ‘a-ha’ moment, or their ‘oh!’ moment, they’ll go and tell others. And then there’ll be more opportunities, more experiences, more entertainment and more fun.’

But will it be a tech-enhanced version of hospitality? ‘Technology is critical, because we are living in a digitised world. But technology must never be used in the replacement of hospitality. Our gold dust is our people and that warmth. It must be there to monitor our environmental impact. It must be there to ease your guest journey, to make it as seamless as possible – but it must never be used as a replacement for guest service.’

So, how would Chopra summarise the nature of Arabian hospitality? ‘It’s warm, it’s generous and it’s fun.’