Wingie, a travel marketplace in Mena, has identified the key travel trends for 2026. While classic vacations remain popular, there's a shift towards experience-driven trips, AI-powered planning, and regional travel. Wingie predicts that in 2026, traditional holidays will continue, but alternatives will gain prominence, with social media influencing destination discovery.
The UAE continues to consolidate its advanced model for building smart cities, underpinned by wide-ranging strategic investments, most notably in data centres, which form the operational backbone of smart urban systems and knowledge-based digital economy, said an industry expert.
After years of bold ambition and heavy investment, artificial intelligence adoption in both Saudi Arabia and UAE is entering a more performance-driven phase amid reports that AI could contribute $135 billion to the kingdom’s economy and $96 billion to the emirates' economy by 2030, said an expert.
HUMAIN, a Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) Company, and the National Infrastructure Fund (Infra) have announced a Strategic Financing Framework Agreement of up to $1.2 billion to support the expansion of AI and digital infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia.
A tsunami is hitting the labour market as AI is quickly reshaping economies; while some roles grow, others will disappear, warned Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Economy and Planning has announced plans to launch an AI-enabled matchmaking partnership network, SUSTAIN, mainly designed to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and accelerate the delivery of sustainable development initiatives in the kingdom.
TIME Hotels has announced a strategic focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital transformation as a key pillar of its growth strategy for 2026, supporting operational scalability, enhancing guest experiences, and advancing its ambitious international expansion pipeline.
Worldwide spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is forecast to hit $2.52 trillion in 2026, up 44% over last year, said a report. The AI infrastructure is driving this boom; adding a whopping $401 billion in expenditure as technology providers continue to build out AI foundations.
Gulf investors are playing an increasing central role in sustaining AI and private market deal flow, not as speculative entrants, but as strategic financiers of foundational technology infrastructure, a Standard Chartered report said.
Gulf investors are playing an increasing central role in sustaining AI and private market deal flow, not as speculative entrants, but as strategic financiers of foundational technology infrastructure, a Standard Chartered report said.
