Tourists will ‘want to be able to drink' in Saudi Arabia says AccorHotels CEO

Speaking to Arabian Business, Sébastien Bazin said the kingdom will need to make certain exceptions for tourists in order to attract visitors to the country.

"… a destination means people want to live. They want to have fun. They want to be able to enjoy music. They may want to be able to drink. Maybe the [Saudi] government in place will allow it only in certain destinations...NEOM is one of the examples of what they will be exempting from many local rules," the CEO said.

Bazin suggested the kingdom could learn "lessons" from regional tourist hubs such as Dubai.

"…That has to be in place, otherwise you won't be attracting tourists. Dubai made it happen, so there are a lot of lessons to be taken from the Middle East," he said.