Saudis taste good life at home
Upmarket staycations have become popular, bolstered by the opening of restaurants such as David Burke
When US celebrity chef David Burke opened his second restaurant in Riyadh earlier in August, hundreds of Saudi men and women packed the venue to enjoy his dishes and fruity “mocktails” to a DJ’s mix of Arabic and Western pop.
While Saudis usually escape the desert country during the summer, when temperatures can reach more than 50°C, the coronavirus pandemic has seen them flock to restaurants and cafes in the open-air mall The Zone, bolstering Saudi Arabia’s consumer sector.
Noura, a hostess at one such upscale restaurant said she had been booking up tables weeks in advance.
“Before that would have been impossible in August because no-one was here,” she said. “Now, we have some regulars who come here and spend hundreds [of riyals] every week.”
STAYCATIONS
Saudi Arabia in May allowed citizens to travel abroad without prior official permission after a more than year-long ban, but it still maintains a “red list” of states they cannot visit, so many are opting for staycations.
Private consumption grew by 1.3% in the first quarter from the same period in 2020, well above
the quarterly readings before the pandemic, and a drop in overseas spending is expected to keep it strong.
The value of point-of-sale transactions in the Gulf Arab state, one of the indicators of consumer spending, jumped 71.7% year on year in May, the popular vacation month, to 40.27-billion riyals. It rose a further 4.6% on an annual basis in June, primarily driven by a 96.7% jump in spending on restaurants and hotels and a 6.6% increase in spending on
food and beverages, according to Al Rajhi Capital.
“Private consumption has rebounded quite strongly and is expected to be a key driver of the recovery in 2021,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “This reflects trapped spending and the early stages in the development of the tourism sector.”
Household consumption accounted for nearly 43% of Saudi Arabia’s economy in 2020, according to World Bank data, and the bounce offers welcome relief as it recovers from last year’s double punch of the pandemic and crumbling demand for oil, its top export.
DOMESTIC TOURISM
Restaurants, cafes, cinemas and hotels are full in the capital, Riyadh, and new venues keep cropping up, helped by the gradual relaxation of strict rules guiding public life.
At Burke’s restaurant, the second of six Burke plans to open in the kingdom, young Saudi female and male staff mill about the industrial-chic venue while a female percussionist accompanies the DJ, a scene hard to imagine a decade ago.
De facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has moved to open up the conservative kingdom, where gender segregation was once firmly enforced by religious police, in an effort to improve quality of life and attract foreign firms and talent. Developing domestic tourism is an ambition of the young prince, whose social and economic reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent in the absolute monarchy.
“Ten years ago, we would never have thought to open an F&B [food and beverages] business, with gender segregation in the restaurants and the strict regulations, it was not appealing and people didn’t enjoy the experience very much,” said Burke’s Saudi partner, Osamah Hussein.
“Now it is an ideal moment,” added Hussein, who owns restaurants and hotels across the kingdom.
Alcohol remains banned in the country, the birthplace of Islam, but authorities now allow public entertainment including concerts, cinema, live music and sporting events.
Abdallah Mansour and his wife, Reem, were dining at upscale Italian restaurant Cipriani while visiting Riyadh from Dammam in the Eastern Province where they live.
“In past years, we would go to Europe with my parents for several weeks. But because we couldn’t travel during Covid-19, we decided to make the most of our time and have been doing weekends all over the country,” Mansour said.
While in Riyadh, they are frequenting the capital’s new restaurants, such as Nobu and Mamo.
“They’re expensive, but it’s amazing they exist at all in Saudi Arabia. We used to have to go to London for Nobu — now it’s right here,” Reem said.