News

Saudi Arabia Records 89M+ Visitors in Booming Entertainment Sector

Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority announced that the number of visitors to the Kingdom’s entertainment sector during 2025 exceeded 89 million visitors. In its annual report for the regulatory affairs sector for 2025, it said that this figure reflects the scale of activity and growth witnessed by the sector, within a regulatory framework aimed at enhancing the quality of experience, strengthening compliance, and developing related procedures. The authority highlighted that the sector hosted 1,690 events, with a total of 75,661 event days, and the participation of 6,778 companies across the sector’s activities during 2025. The total number of licenses issued in 2025 reached 6,490. In addition, 472 entertainment destinations were licensed during the year, compared to 422 destinations in 2024, representing a 12 percent increase. The total number of active entertainment destinations reached 975, compared to 513 destinations in 2024.

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Maldives to Host Global Creator Summit & Awards in September 2026

The Maldives is set to step onto the global stage as a new hub for the creator economy with the launch of the World Creator Summit 2026 and the World Creator Awards 2026, powered by Creatoll. Taking place from 20 to 25 September 2026, the new programme will bring together leading creators, platforms, publishers, tourism stakeholders and brand partners for a high-level international gathering focused on the growing influence of creator-led storytelling in travel and tourism. Developed by Visit Maldives in collaboration with the organisers of the renowned World Travel Awards, the initiative is being positioned as a premium, invitation-only platform with a strong emphasis on quality, curation and long-term value. The ambition is to establish the Maldives not only as a host destination, but as a global meeting point for the future of creator-led influence, destination storytelling and the wider creator economy.

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Singapore Unveils teamLab Art Experience at Wetlands by the Bay

The group’s exhibitions, which see visitors walk (or in some cases splash) through rooms filled with colourful projections and art you can interact with, are pure social media fodder. Tickets can sell out months in advance, and teamLab has long since expanded from its base in Japan’s capital with openings in destinations across Asia including Osaka, Kyushu, Macao, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah. Now there’s another museum in the pipeline, and this time it’s in Singapore. Part of the city’s new Wetlands by the Bay project, the main draw of the museum is that it will be the only one in the world that you can traverse by pedal kayak, passing by projections and art works nestled among the mangroves. Little else is known about what the 12,000 sq m site will offer, but if the collective’s other museums are anything to go by, you should have your camera at the ready.

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Brazil Launches Digital Football Route to Elevate Tourism Experience

Embratur, Brazil’s national tourism promotion agency, has launched the Football Route, a digital platform featuring four tourism itineraries inspired by the “history, spaces and experiences” tied to the country’s most popular sport. Created to “transform the global passion for the sport into a structured tourism experience,” the digital guide offers suggested itineraries and activities that allow visitors to discover Brazil through its football culture – exploring historic stadiums, museums, club headquarters, traditional fan bars and other spaces linked to the sport’s memory and lived experience, according to Embratur. The project is centered in Rio de Janeiro, a city that is home to some of the country’s most iconic stadiums and clubs, with a deep-rooted football tradition. Embratur envisions the initiative as a pilot project, with potential expansion to other destinations across Brazil.

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Spain’s Top Destinations Shine for Unforgettable Holy Week Experiences

Discover Spain’s top spots to experience Holy Week, from the passion of Seville and Málaga to the hush of Zamora and the unique rites of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, on a journey from north to south through the country’s most spectacular celebrations. Every spring, Spain is transformed as its streets fill with incense, silence, drums and emotion. Whether you are a believer or not, Spanish Holy Week is a cultural phenomenon: a blend of art, tradition, spirituality and spectacle that spans generations. From the austere solemnity of Castile to the passion of Andalusia, via the unique traditions of the Mediterranean and the north, the country offers a diversity that is hard to match.

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Swedish City Promotes ‘IQ Tourism’ for Mindful Travel Experiences

Visitors to Uppsala are invited to discover more about the area’s history from the Vikings to more modern day inventions like the Celsius scale. Selfie tourism has taken over some of the world’s top destinations, with travellers queuing for hours to secure “the shot” without actually engaging with whatever it is they are pointing their camera at One Swedish destination has come up with a novel way to combat the trend: An “IQ Tourism” programme. Rather than pointing visitors towards the most photographed sights, Uppsala, a university city that’s just a 40-minute train ride north of Stockholm, is using an IQ symbol to direct them to experiences that offer “depth, clever stories, and unexpected layers of history”. “We want curiosity to be the primary reason to travel here,” says Helena Bovin, head of marketing at Destination Uppsala. “It’s a shift towards travel centred on meaning and context rather than just another experience to tick off a list.”

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