After opening up to tourism, Saudi has changed. Since 2019, there has been this huge growth in infrastructure, hotels, museums, restaurants, tour operators. It’s opened up a massive market, creating new job opportunities for Saudis. I originally started a tour-operator business, but it closed in the pandemic. Now I work as a tour guide for Italian groups, largely in Jeddah, where there is lots going on.
In Arabic, we say: Jeddah is different. I’m half-Italian, half-Saudi, but I was born here and moved back seven years ago. With Jeddah being on the Red Sea, and the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, it has always been a melting pot. In our architecture, food and even our dress, you can see the influence of other cultures.
You have…