Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched Al Waha Duty-Free Company (Al Waha), a travel retailer and the first Saudi-owned duty-free operator.
Al Waha, a wholly owned PIF company, is set to establish itself as a leader in travel retail and secure a greater share of passenger spending for the Saudi economy.
The company will establish luxury retail outlets in select locations across the Kingdom and feature a variety of merchandise including distinctive, high-quality Saudi products. Al Waha will operate its airport outlets on a duty-free basis, and will unlock additional travel retail opportunities at land border crossings and seaports, as well as channels such as inflight shopping.
Majed Al Assaf Head of Consumer Goods & Retail MENA Investments Division, PIF
“By establishing Al Waha as a national travel retail champion, PIF intends to grow the Saudi travel retail industry and further support its ambitions for the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia. Al Waha will offer a distinctive traveler experience across Saudi travel retail touch points through diverse product offerings, a duty-free operation and a superior digital customer journey. There is considerable potential for Saudi Arabia to gain a larger share of travel retail spending in the future, and the continued increase in visitors coming to Saudi Arabia – as well as global events being hosted locally – offer new opportunities to generate sustainable travel retail revenues.”
PIF is unlocking the potential of key sectors to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification. This announcement follows a series of investments by PIF in tourism, aviation and retail. These include King Salman International Airport in Riyadh, which had its masterplan launched in 2022, and is designed to be one of the world’s largest airports upon its completion; with a large number of retail stores and restaurants.
Furthermore, PIF has launched Riyadh Air, the new Saudi flag-carrier, which aims to establish Riyadh as a major international air travel hub. Other PIF tourism investments include Jeddah-based Red Sea Cruise Company Cruise Saudi, which seeks to make the Saudi coastline a premier global destination.
PIF’s Retail investments include the Saudi Coffee Company, Al Madinah Heritage Company – which focuses on quality date production – and Sawani, which makes camel milk products.
