The Opportunity
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 includes a target of 100 million annual tourist visits. In 2022, that number was around 17 million. The gap represents one of the largest destination marketing opportunities in the world. New properties are opening monthly .. NEOM, The Red Sea, AlUla, Diriyah Gate. Each needs a visual identity before the first guest arrives.
We were brought in to produce destination content for 3 regions: AlUla, the Red Sea coast and Riyadh. The brief was to create content that would shift the perception of Saudi Arabia from a closed, conservative country to an open, culturally rich destination worth visiting.
Cultural Considerations
Filming in Saudi Arabia requires sensitivity that does not exist in most Western destinations. Gender representation matters. Content showing mixed groups socializing needs to reflect local norms. Religious sites require specific permissions and guidelines for photography. Some historical sites have restrictions on drone use near military or government facilities.
We worked with a local fixer throughout the production. Not optional. A local fixer handles permits, translates cultural nuances and prevents mistakes that could end the production. Our fixer in AlUla prevented us from shooting a sunset sequence that would have included a military installation in the background. That single intervention saved the entire project.
AlUla: Ancient History Meets Modern Luxury
AlUla is Saudi Arabia's answer to Petra. Hegra (Madan Salih) is a UNESCO World Heritage site with 2,000-year-old Nabataean tombs carved into sandstone mountains. The landscape is extraordinary .. red rock formations, palm oases, desert canyons. It photographs like a movie set because it essentially is one (they filmed parts of Lawrence of Arabia nearby).
We spent 4 days in AlUla shooting across Hegra, the Old Town, Elephant Rock and the Maraya concert hall (the world's largest mirrored building). The production challenges were logistical: distances between sites are long, the heat was extreme (44C in midday) and the heritage sites required an escort from the Royal Commission at all times.
The Red Sea Coast
The Red Sea Development Company is building a luxury tourism destination across 22 islands along the Saudi coast. Most of it is still under construction. Our brief was to film the existing natural assets .. coral reefs, mangroves, pristine beaches, marine life .. that will anchor the tourism proposition once the hotels open.
Underwater content was the priority. The Red Sea has some of the world's healthiest coral reefs because almost nobody has dived them. Visibility was 30-40 meters. We documented species diversity, coral formations and underwater landscapes across 6 dive sites over 3 days. This footage will be used for destination marketing before any above-water infrastructure exists.
Results and Observations
The content library we delivered included 60 video assets, 80 stills and 15 long-form pieces. Initial deployment across the destination's social channels generated engagement rates 2x higher than benchmark for tourism accounts in the region. The AlUla sunrise content became the most-shared piece in the destination's social history with 4.1M impressions in the first week.
Saudi Arabia will be the most significant new destination in global tourism over the next decade. The production companies that build relationships and understand the cultural context now will have a major advantage as the market scales. We are investing in that relationship early.