Saudi Arabia aims to become one of the top five tourism destinations in the world. The country intends to spend US$6 trillion to attract 100 million domestic and international travellers annually which would help contribute 10 per cent of its GDP.
But with 100 million travellers in the kingdom annually by 2030, it is equally imperative that Saudi Arabia ramps up its domestic offerings to appeal to a diverse global audience. That’s where Cool Inc, a Saudi-based company that launched last year, comes in with the concept of being a curator of experiential hospitality offerings within the kingdom.
To do so, it is importing some of the biggest names in the F&B and members’ clubs space from around the world, and also setting up different verticals to cater to bespoke travel and luxury lodging as well as adventure experiences. Cool Inc was co-founded by Sinan Al Saady who began his career in banking. The well-travelled Sinan saw the potential to bring high-end lifestyle concepts to the kingdom. “Cool Inc is an investment company. We focus on investments in hospitality and leisure. At Cool Inc, we’re committed to introducing a vibrant lifestyle within the kingdom to selective clientele – people who are well travelled and who have seen a lot of these concepts elsewhere in the world,” says Sinan.
Cool Inc’s current activities will be focused around F&B. Its has partnered with major global restaurants to bring them to Saudi. It plans to roll out 20 restaurants across mainly Riyadh and Jeddah over the next few months.
In Riyadh, Cool Inc will be bringing in the likes of Asian restaurants Sexy Fish and seafood concept Scott’s. Sexy Fish will be making its Middle East debut after having travelled from its Mayfair home in London to open in Miami last year. Expect favourites on the menu including the duck salad, smoked tuna belly and black cod. “Riyadh is an energetic and diverse city with a cosmopolitan culture, making it a perfect match for Sexy Fish,” says Richard Caring, owner of Caprice Holdings which owns Sexy Fish. Another Caprice brand, Scott’s, which is also found in Mayfair is coming to Riyadh, courtesy of Cool Inc. Scott’s is believed to be among the five oldest restaurants in London and is one of the city’s most glamorous seafood establishments. Both Scott’s and Sexy Fish are confirmed to open shortly in Via Riyadh, a new luxury district in the Saudi capital which was unveiled only a few weeks ago and will feature several dining concepts, the kingdom’s first St. Regis Hotel and high-end shopping boutiques.
Over in Jeddah, Cool Inc will be bringing Los Angeles favourite Madeo Ristorante to the city (a second outpost will open in Riyadh too), as well as the Japanese wagyu ramen concept, Mashi no Mashi, which will open along with Madeo this year itself.
The other international concepts that will be imported into the kingdom by Cool Inc include steakhouse Cut By Wolfgang Puck, Paris celebrity haunt Ferdi, Michelin-starred London restaurant Gymkhana and the collective of beef speciality restaurants by Wagyumafia. Apart from the restaurants, Cool Inc is also bringing in members’ clubs such as Spring Place which has outposts in New York and Beverly Hills. Another offering which will serve as a space to network will be the Cigar Lounge by Manu Harit in Riyadh. “At Cigar Lounge by ManuH Cigars, we are not only importing some of the rarest, most excellent cigars from around the world, but we are also providing memorable new experiences for the region’s cigar aficionados, right here in Riyadh,” says Sinan.
Beyond the F&B vertical, Cool Inc is introducing a bespoke travel vertical which is expected to launch in the kingdom this month. Heading that aspect of its business is Stuart McNair, the managing director of bespoke travel at Cool Inc. As McNair explains, the aim of the bespoke travel division at Cool Inc would be to serve as a destination management company wherein high-end travel experiences are arranged in different parts of the kingdom. There are four sub divisions that the bespoke travel vertical will cater to. The first is tourism products which will range from quick Instagram photo tours around a specific area, to private dining experiences and all the way up to visits to glamping sites. The second vertical will be tour operations wherein Cool Inc’s in-house team of tour operators will advise on and curate packages over several days for visiting international guests. “We’re activating the whole kingdom. So, we’re starting in year one by activating about eight beautiful regions. Some of those do not have accommodation at the moment, and so we are bringing up our own mobile glamping sites down to these areas such as Tanomah,” says McNair. The high-end mobile glamping sites will allow Cool Inc to set up camp in remote unexplored areas of Saudi Arabia.
To aid its bespoke travel operations, it will be relying on its third sub-division – its own transportation fleet. “It will start with 10 vehicles in the next few months, and that will increase to about 50 vehicles by year five. These will include a mix of Land Cruisers, green vehicles and luxury buses,” says McNair. The fourth sub-division would be dedicated to brand activations and events, wherein luxury brands could approach McNair’s team to look after visiting VIP guests, and to help curate events around brand activations and product launch campaigns within the kingdom.
Apart from bespoke travel, luxury lodging and the F&B vertical, the third main area of focus for Cool Inc will be developing adventure lifestyle activities within the kingdom. That vertical is being led by Roland Zieher, the CEO of EBDA. Zieher was working at Nintendo World in Japan when he got the call from Sinan. “EBDA is the adventure vertical of Cool Inc and we have already been operating it since 2020. It has since then opened an asset in Riyadh, where we operate a 200m zipline, an outdoor skate park as well as a 2,500 sqm indoor adventure park,” notes Zieher, whose previous experience in the Middle East included working on developing the experiences on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
With EBDA, Zieher will develop its operations across three further sub-divisions. The first will be operations where they invest themselves – as they have with the current asset in Riyadh. The second sub-division will focus on the management of assets. “We’re working on concept design developments with several partners here in the kingdom, where we will develop new asset hospitality leisure destinations,” says Zieher. The third sub-division will be a consulting and advisory business wherein EBDA will engage with government and private partners to help them develop their own adventure destinations. Part of that mandate would be to include in the team not only expat experts, but also to foster Saudi local talent that can carry the baton.
Cool Inc’s operations, as Sinan points out, are all service oriented and hence the company is heavily invested in developing its human capital, specifically in growing its Saudi employee base. “We are working with multiple government agencies. We have a programme with the Ministry of Tourism to train 400 people locally and internationally to elevate the hospitality scene in Saudi,” says Sinan.
In its communication of the brand, Cool Inc uses an image of a chameleon, one that Sinan says represents Cool Inc’s desire to be a company that can quickly adapt to the needs of the market as it becomes the ultimate purveyor of all things cool in the kingdom. “The Cool Inc persona will be ever-evolving – therefore mimicking a chameleon. The chameleon is attuned to its surroundings, sees and hears everything constantly – and that’s how we think of ourselves.”
