Results

The World's Tourists Went Somewhere Else This Year, and the Gulf Is Counting the Difference

UN Tourism has global arrivals up two per cent in the first quarter and Middle East arrivals down fourteen. Bahrain lost more than a quarter of its visitors. Egypt, three hours away, gained sixteen per cent.

Aug 26, 2026

After 123 Million Visits, Saudi Tourism Is Building Its Next Chapter

Saudi Arabia passed its original tourism ambition early; the more interesting future now lies in richer regional journeys, local businesses and repeat visitors.

Jul 28, 2026

Japan's Tourism Boom: The Weak Yen and the Overtourism Backlash

A record 36.8 million visitors and a currency stuck near 34-year lows have made Japan a bargain. Not everyone in Japan is thrilled about it.

Jan 22, 2025

Oman's New Air Links Are Turning Tourism Strategy Into Real Journeys

Direct routes to Singapore, Sochi and Medan give Oman a practical way to diversify visitors while spreading tourism value beyond familiar markets.

Jul 29, 2026

From Soudah to the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia Is Drawing a New Travel Map

Mountain villages, coral coastlines and nature-led hospitality are expanding the world’s picture of Saudi Arabia beyond desert and city landmarks.

Jul 28, 2026

Travellers Are Booking the Grandmother, Not the Landmark

Summer bookings show shorter trips, cooler destinations and a preference for experiences led by lifelong locals and traditional craftspeople. The multi country sprint is losing.

Aug 4, 2026

One Visa, One Fee, Six Countries: the Gulf's Schengen Moment Is Reportedly Piloting This Year

A unified GCC tourist visa has been discussed for years and is now said to be entering a pilot phase, at an estimated 100 to 150 dollars for 30 to 90 days. The economics of it are more interesting than the convenience.

Aug 21, 2026

Air Travel Is Still Growing, but the Post-Pandemic Surge Is Over

IATA expects passenger demand to grow only 2.1% in 2026 as conflict, inflation and weaker purchasing power weigh on travel. The market is normalizing unevenly.

Aug 1, 2026

How consumers plan to spend differently in 2026

Growing wealth inequality is reshaping consumer behavior. Experiences over goods, values over discounts, and AI shopping tools mark 2026's divide.

May 20, 2025

Why the Gulf Economy Held When the Region Didn't

A war that closed the Strait of Hormuz and hit every GCC state should have broken the region's economics. Reserves and diversification kept it standing.

Jul 16, 2026

Saudi Arabia’s Creative Economy Is Building Cultural Confidence

Film, design, music, museums and heritage are creating more than entertainment; they are giving Saudi talent new careers and audiences new ways to connect.

Jul 28, 2026

AlUla Shows How Saudi Arabia Can Build the Future Around Heritage

AlUla’s strongest idea is not construction in the desert, but a model where archaeology, local skills, conservation and hospitality grow together.

Jul 28, 2026

Project Sunrise Brings the World's Longest Flights Closer

Qantas is preparing aircraft for nonstop Sydney routes to London and New York, raising practical questions about comfort, health, scheduling and demand.

Jul 28, 2026

Dubai's Visitor Rewards Bet Turns Residents Into Tourism Ambassadors

A new incentive campaign asks Dubai residents to bring friends and family to the city, revealing how destinations compete when regional uncertainty weighs on travel.

Jul 24, 2026

The Umrah Visa Now Expires Before You Travel, Not After

The entry window has been cut from three months to thirty days, registration on Nusuk is mandatory with no exemptions, and a new visa lets you come back for a year. Three changes that reward planning.

Aug 16, 2026

The Case for Travelling in the Weeks Nobody Else Books

Shoulder season is cheaper, emptier and usually better weather than the peak it sits beside. It also has failure modes, and knowing which ones apply is the difference between a bargain and a wasted trip.

Aug 8, 2026

The Arab Medical Influencer Economy That Made Him Possible

One doctor outdrew every health ministry in the region using a phone and a food list. The conditions that allowed it are structural, and they have not changed since he died.

Jul 18, 2026

Riyadh Air's First Big Asia Push Follows the Workforce

Islamabad, Lahore and Manila go on sale for a carrier still under 15 destinations. The choice says the airline is chasing volume that already exists rather than demand it has to invent.

Aug 7, 2026

Twelve Days That Closed the Gulf's Skies

Israel's strikes on Iran and the retaliation that followed grounded Gulf carriers and shut down entire national airspaces within hours.

Jun 26, 2025

The Gas Shock Reaches Far Beyond the Energy Bill

Tighter LNG supply is reducing gas demand, but the deeper risk runs through electricity, industry, fertilizer and food prices. Energy security is becoming economic security.

Jul 31, 2026

Oil Below $100 Still Leaves Central Banks With a Difficult Week

Energy prices have eased from their sharpest fears, but the Fed, Bank of England and Bank of Japan still face inflation signals pulling against softer growth.

Jul 28, 2026

Arab Vision 2045 Is Back on the Agenda. Here Is What Would Make It Real

A July meeting between the new ESCWA and Arab League leadership renewed attention on Arab Vision 2045, a regional roadmap built around security, equity, innovation and prosperity.

Aug 3, 2026

Fashion

Nobody Can Agree How Big Modest Fashion Is, and That Is the Story

One widely cited figure puts the category at 86 billion dollars. Another puts it at 254 billion. The gap is not a rounding error, it is a disagreement about what modest fashion actually is.

Aug 16, 2026

GCC Ministers Put Navigation and Diplomacy at the Center of Regional Talks

Gulf foreign ministers used a July 28 consultation to focus on practical understandings, de-escalation and the safe flow of ships through Hormuz.

Jul 29, 2026

Mohammed bin Salman's Record, Measured Against the Numbers He Set Himself

A decade after Vision 2030 was announced, the non-oil economy is the majority of Saudi output, the sovereign fund has grown roughly sixfold, and about 1.3 million more Saudi women are in work. The record is strong, and the interesting part is the method.

Aug 22, 2026

UAE Stocks Meet a New Test as Regional Risk Returns to the Price Screen

A risk-off session in Dubai and Abu Dhabi shows how conflict, oil, aviation and investor confidence can move Gulf markets in different directions at once.

Jul 24, 2026

Technology

Qatar Is Opening Its Submarine Cable Gateways to More Competition

New access rules for Qatar's cable landing stations aim to make international connectivity fairer and more predictable, strengthening the foundation for cloud and data-center growth.

Aug 1, 2026

Health

Ozempic in a Tablet: What the Rebrand of Oral Semaglutide Actually Changes

Novo Nordisk folded Rybelsus into the Ozempic name in May and put a self-pay price on it. Getting a peptide to survive the stomach is a real achievement, but the tablet is not simply the injection in another form.

Aug 11, 2026

Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Opens Up: What Dive Tourism Actually Offers

New resorts, new dive licences and a scaled-back masterplan. Here is the real state of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea diving push, not the pitch deck version.

Feb 10, 2026

Sports

Saudi Arabia’s Sporting Future Begins Long Before the 2034 World Cup

The strongest legacy of global sport will be measured in active communities, local coaching, women’s participation and facilities people use every week.

Jul 28, 2026

Diving Egypt's Red Sea: Hurghada, Sharm and Dahab Compared

Three Egyptian dive bases, three different Red Seas. Here is what Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab each actually deliver underwater.

Feb 14, 2024

Crypto

Stablecoins Are Quietly Becoming a Bond-Market Variable

IMF research finds stablecoin demand shocks can lower short-term Treasury yields and spill into currencies, crypto and equities. Digital dollars now matter beyond crypto trading.

Aug 2, 2026

Design

Riyadh’s Next Great Upgrade Is a City Designed for Everyday Life

Parks, walking routes, sports spaces and connected neighborhoods may become Vision 2030’s most meaningful contribution to daily life in the capital.

Jul 28, 2026

World Trade Is Breaking Records, but Prices Are Doing Too Much of the Work

Goods and services trade added about $2 trillion in the first half of 2026. Much of the rise reflects higher prices, leaving a more uneven volume story underneath.

Aug 2, 2026

Red Sea Tanker Attacks Push Oil Above $96 a Barrel

Houthi claims against two Saudi tankers have exposed the weakness in plans to bypass Hormuz, sending Brent higher as two vital shipping routes face risk.

Jul 23, 2026

Kingdom Holding's Profit Slips, and the Reasons Are Instructive

Weaker dividend income, higher operating costs and a bigger tax line pushed the Saudi investment house lower in the first half. Each of those pressures applies well beyond one company.

Aug 7, 2026

EU Says TikTok's Public Accounts Leave Minors Too Visible

The European Commission's preliminary Digital Services Act finding targets public-by-choice accounts and recommendation systems that can expose teenagers' content too broadly.

Jul 25, 2026

The Rescuer Who Did Not Surface: Remembering Mohamed Mahudhee

MNDF Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee died searching a Maldives cave for five missing divers. His death shows the risk that recovery divers accept on behalf of strangers.

May 24, 2026

Technology

Physicists Made Entangled Photons Out of Ordinary Sunlight, Which Was Supposed to Require a Laser

A team in Ottawa and Erlangen put a window sized lens in the sun, funnelled the light down a glass cone into a fibre the width of a hair, and got entangled photons at ninety four per cent fidelity. The Sun is not supposed to be able to do this.

Aug 25, 2026

Crypto

Europe's MiCA Rules Are Now Fully Live. Crypto Just Grew Up

The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets law became fully applicable on December 30, forcing every exchange and stablecoin issuer to operate under a real license.

Jan 8, 2025