Via Christine Burke and Sam Dagher in bloomberg.com: The Saudi company tasked with building a mega cultural heritage project in the heart of Riyadh is close to securing $400 million from foreign investors, indicating progress in the kingdom’s efforts to draw private funding into the tourism sector. Companies from Italy, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates are the latest to make commitments to co-develop hotels and villas at the site, Diriyah Co. Chief Executive Officer Jerry Inzerillo said in an interview on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative confab in the Saudi capital. Tourism is one area he said is going better than expected. Saudi Arabia aims to draw in 150 million tourists a year by 2030 — from about 109 million last year — and plans to spend almost $1 trillion on the sector in the next decade. It wants to see $80 billion in private investment by 2030.
