Smart City Playbook

Tourism

Sector

Sector

Overview

Al Madinah is one of the holy cities in Islam, and a key destination for religious tourism. The city receives approximately 9 million visitors per year, with the goal to achieve an average of 25 million visitors per year by 2030 in alignment with the Kingdom’s Vision. The city benefits from both religious and non-religious attractions including Al Masjid Al Nabawi, Uhud Mount & Cemetery, the Khaybar fort, as well as its culture and nature offerings.

Expected Number of Tourists to Al Madinah, million visitors

Tourism Contribution to Madinah GVA, 2018

~50,000
Employees in the
tourism sector

Key Sector Challenges Analysis

Key Observations

There is a lack of an integrated and seamless visitors’ experience which can capitalize on the rich topography and history of Al Madinah city

Historical and cultural offerings in Al Madinah city are not leveraged due to the religious tourism perception in Al Madinah

Capacity plans are being reassessed to accommodate the targets set forward

Sector Strategic Objectives

Enable a seamless, pleasant, rich, and safe visitor experience across the City

Personalized

Enrich the tourist experience through site accessibility and differentiated offerings

Welcoming

Ensure city resources are well-equipped, managed and prepared to cater to the visitor needs

Pleasant

Increase level of satisfaction by leveraging technology across the tourist journey

Sector

Personas

We’ve developed 12 personas  across 4 archetypes to represent the needs of the people of Al Madinah City.

Sector

Workshops

We facilitated an ideation session for the Tourism sector, focusing on our 12 personas.

Sector

Synthesis

After the workshops, all co-created ideas, research and benchmarking were collated and synthesized.

Tourism

Use Cases

City Living Museum

Advanced Wayfinder App

“Al Madinah Explorer” Digital Platform

City B2B Tourism Marketplace

Smart Airport

Smart District

Platform for Connecting City Residents with Visitors “Diyafah Al Madinah”

Digitally
Augmented Hosts

Rapid Deployable Accommodation System “Hayyak” Initiative

Responsive Crowd Management

Explore Our Sectors

Healthcare & Wellbeing

A healthier population that is taken care of with proactiveness, responsiveness and quality.

Tourism

A seamless, pleasant, rich, and safe visitor experience across the City.

Environment & Agriculture

A sustainable living culture and conservation of resources to persist for future generations

Transport & Mobility

A safer, more convenient, navigable, and accessible city

Business, Industry & Logistics

An integrated, efficient and productive environment for business and industry to prosper

Old Neighborhoods

The integration of Al Madinah’s old neighborhoods to Al Madinah’s thriving economic and social landscape and empower higher standards of living