Non-Executive Director — Tourism Development Platform
Saudi Arabia·Tourism, Hospitality & Entertainment·Tourism development· Riyadh·Posted 13 July 2026
Applications close 31 December 2026
Tourism development organisation in Saudi Arabia
The problem this seat exists to solve
The director will challenge how tourism demand assumptions translate into development commitments. The central governance issue is the risk of committing capital ahead of evidence that infrastructure, access, operating capability and customer demand will develop together.
Board-level questions to resolve
How should investment be phased when demand is uncertain? Which enabling commitments sit outside management’s control? What evidence should release the next tranche of capital? The director will help ensure these questions are answered before the board is asked to approve expansion.
Oversight responsibilities
Review feasibility studies, development sequencing and the relationship between destination appeal and asset-level returns. Examine operating partnerships, seasonality and the cost of maintaining service quality during ramp-up. Challenge downside cases that assume all projects can be delayed without affecting common infrastructure or contractual commitments.
Investment gates should distinguish evidence of interest from committed demand and completed enabling works from expected future support. Ask how the development would operate if complementary attractions or transport access were delayed. The director should require a viable first operating phase with explicit service scope, staffing and maintenance requirements. A strategy that only becomes economic after every phase is complete needs a different funding and risk discussion from one in which each stage can stand on its own operating logic.
Relevant candidate experience
Candidates should have governed or held investment accountability for tourism, hospitality, leisure or complex property development. They need a practical understanding of phased capital deployment and the transition into operations. Familiarity with the Saudi business environment is relevant, without requiring connections to a particular institution or project.
Contribution to disciplined growth
The board should gain sharper investment gates, clearer dependency tracking and a realistic view of operating readiness. Candidates should demonstrate how they have adjusted a development strategy when demand or enabling infrastructure lagged expectations. This seat carries no requirement to provide introductions, secure public support or raise capital through personal networks.
Terms
- Where the board sits
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Applications close
- 31 December 2026
- Appointment
- Board appointment
- Time commitment in this market
- Boards typically meet four to six times a year, with committee cycles and a general assembly; giga-project and transformation entities meet considerably more often.
Before you apply — Saudi Arabia
Foreign nationals serve on Saudi boards, and the framework does not bar it — but sector licensing, the four-year election cycle and, for regulated firms, SAMA or CMA approval shape the route in.
- Residency test
- No general residency requirement for a non-executive director of a listed joint stock company; some regulated sectors and executive roles do carry residency conditions.
- Nationality test
- Certain licensed and strategic activities carry Saudi-national requirements at board or management level. Check the sector's licensing conditions before assuming the general position applies.
- Work authorisation
- A non-resident non-executive director attending board meetings travels on a business visit visa. Resident and executive roles require an iqama and are subject to Saudization requirements.
- Tenure limit once appointed
- Board terms are limited to four years and are renewable. Independence is reassessed each cycle against the CMA's criteria rather than capped by cumulative years.
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