Over the last month, international A-list celebrities from Hilary Swank to Nadine Njeim walked the red carpet in glittering and sometimes plunging gowns generally reserved for the likes of Los Angeles or Paris. F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton raced for screaming sports fans, and Justin Bieber played his famous hits to a raging, sold-out crowd.

From December 3-5, Jeddah hosted the country’s first Formula One racing event, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Hamilton and Max Verstappen both participated, as did musical extraordinaire like Bieber, ASAP Rocky, and David Guetta.

Hotel room rates in Jeddah soared to heights not seen since 2018 during the Grand Prix, with the average room selling for more than $450, or just under three times the average rate. It was a welcome change for hoteliers hit hard by coronavirus-related closures that kept tourists out of the country for 17 months, government-promoted tourist sites injected over $2.3 billion into the country’s economy over the summer months, thanks mostly to domestic travel.

Source Credit: TRT World