DGDA to see opening of 1st hotel by year-end, eyes 27 mln visitors by 2030: CEO

DGDA CEO Jerry Inzerillo

Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) will see the opening of the first hotel, Samhan Heritage Hotel, by the end of December, as work is underway to complete it, according to CEO Jerry Inzerillo.

Samhan Heritage Hotel will include 141 rooms, Inzerillo said in an interview with Argaam.

DGDA, he added, includes 42 international hotel brands, such as Four Seasons, Oberoi, and others, and aims to attract 27 million visitors by 2030.

Inzerillo went on to say that the DGDA sold $30 billion in assets to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which established a new company, Diriyah.

This year, the value of local content participation in the Diriyah project exceeded $6 billion (SAR 22.5 billion), including construction, engineering, design, and development, the CEO added.

The company's policy requires that all project resources come from Diriyah, but if this is not available, resources are sought from Riyadh, then the rest of the Kingdom, the Gulf countries, and finally the rest of the world.

Regarding Saudization at Diriyah Gate, he stated that 85% of employees are Saudis, 38% of whom are females, including 16% in leadership positions.

According to data available on Argaam, in June 2020, the DGDA began implementing the first phase of the rehabilitation and development of historic Diriyah, worth SAR 75 billion.