Qiddiya Investment Company

Qiddiya Investment Company is a closed joint-stock company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). It oversees the establishment of the Qiddiya Entertainment Project, which is one of the projects announced by the PIF within Saudi Vision 2030 aimed at diversifying sources of income and driving new sectors.

Qiddiya Investment Company was established in 2018 to supervise the implementation of the Qiddiya Project announced in 2017 by Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and PIF Chairman, His Royal Highness Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

Qiddiya is a holding company that includes all for-profit investments and owns the Qiddiya brand. It is responsible for its development, real-world implementation, and profitability. The company is also involved in managing the general strategic direction of the parent company, enhancing the performance of its affiliated individual entities, as well as preparing reports, and providing effective joint services to sub-units.

The Qiddiya Project is located forty km from the capital, Riyadh, in the historical Qiddiya region, in the heart of Tuwaiq Reserve. It covers an area of 376 km, which is equivalent to two and a half times the size of Walt Disney World. It consists of five main pillars: parks and entertainment destinations, arts and culture, sports and wellness, motion and mobility, along nature and environment. These pillars support the real estate and community services unit, which will build five thousand housing units.

The facilities are built on one-third of the total area dedicated to the project, which is divided into nine areas: the resort core, the motion zone, the city center, the ecozone, the golf community and the residential neighborhood, the aerodrome and airfield, future development, the green buffer, in addition to the arrival point and the primary access to Qiddiya from Makkah Highway. The project is enhanced by a group of properties creating an integrated entertainment destination, including hotels, resorts, retail stores, offices, warehouses, and logistics.

Upon its completion, the project will achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 through economic diversification by creating job opportunities, embedding the startup culture, doubling family spending on entertainment, and responding to demographic change. This can be achieved through the provision of job opportunities compatible with the youth's growing aspirations in the Kingdom, reducing the transfer of revenues from local to foreign markets, in addition to encouraging the youth, empowering women, and enhancing public health outcomes.

Qiddiya Investment Company seeks to acquire a share of the SAR86 billion that citizens spend on average abroad annually, as the Kingdom comes at the forefront of the G20 in terms of spending on international tourism as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP). The project primarily seeks to offer new opportunities for the Saudi youth in entertainment, sports, and arts by building a creative space that encourages innovation and invention. This objective helps promote creative industries that form the lifeline of the project.

The Qiddiya Project consists of three phases. The first phase began with the project announcement in 2017. It includes design, planning, infrastructure construction, and main attractions, while creating the project’s identity, raising awareness of its importance, and driving strategic partnerships, in addition to testing and launching the project by 2023. The second and third phases will begin after the expansion of offers and capacity. These two phases will end by 2031.