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Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is back at it again, expanding their equity investments in a stake in travel and local tourism. The kingdom's Public Investment Fund announced a $412M (SR 1.55B) investment in Almosafer Travel & Tourism – a subsidiary of Seera Group Holding, amounting to a 30% stake in the company.
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The 1.5B riyal investment includes up to 386M riyals in an earn-out amount to be paid to Almosafer in subscription for new shares in the travel and tourism company. Almosafer plans to use the investment to fund its expansion, invest in tourism assets and products, and improve customer experience.
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As part of a reorganisation plan, Seera’s destination management company Discover Saudi and it's Hajj and Umrah B2B operator Mawasim will now fall under the umbrella of Almosafer.
Why it matters
Saudi Arabia is developing a number of tourism projects as it seeks to raise the economic contribution of the tourism sector from 3% of gross domestic product to 10% by 2030. Last month saw it approve a new tourism law, that will establish a new regulatory environment to “attract tourism innovators and improve ease of doing business” in the kingdom. Other projects include Neom, a $500B futuristic city comprising of a nature reserve, coral reefs and heritage sites on a number of islands along the Red Sea, and Diriyah Gate, a seven-square-kilometre site with the At-Turaif Unesco World Heritage Site at its core.
