There was a time when Saudi Arabia was a destination travellers knew largely through photographs: the great desert stretching towards the horizon, the ancient Nabataean tombs of the north, the pilgrimage cities of Makkah and Madinah, and the futuristic skyline beginning to take shape in Riyadh. Today, the reality is considerably more intriguing. At the 2026 World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony, Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary transformation into one of the world’s most closely watched emerging travel destinations was celebrated in a collection of honours spanning luxury hotels, resorts, cultural destinations and an entirely new generation of tourism developments.