What is being built here is not a new destination layered over history. It is a city continuing a tradition of commerce and culture that has defined this region for more than three centuries.
You have spent five decades in global hospitality across some of the world’s most recognised destinations. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Chairman of the Board of Diriyah Company, appointed you to lead Diriyah Company, what distinguished this mandate from your previous roles?
Jerry Inzerillo (JI): There is no doubt that after a lifetime in the hospitality sector, my role at Diriyah Company has been the most challenging, but also the most rewarding, professional experience of my career.
Growing up in Brooklyn, I would never have imagined that today I would have the honour to be given the responsibility to help shape and bring to life one of the world’s most integrated urban developments, Diriyah.
A new urban gathering place for the world that is being built out of the 300-year-old foundations of the birthplace of the Saudi State and home of the Al-Saud family.
It is both a privilege and enormous responsibility to be undertaking this role to help fulfil the ambition of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to build the City of Earth in his family’s ancestral home.
I first engaged with the vision for Diriyah during a meeting with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2018. The conviction behind the project and the ambition for what it could become were unmistakable. It was evident that this would be a defining undertaking, both in scale and in purpose.
Today, I am privileged to have worked alongside the Crown Prince for so many years as we have taken the vision for Diriyah from plans to reality, creating a new model of human-centric urban development that can inspire city planners around the world.
We are shaping a city that will help to redefine the Saudi Arabia of today and tomorrow, while cherishing and embracing three centuries of unique history, heritage and culture.
Diriyah benefits from a level of institutional backing few developments globally can match. For international partners considering long-term commitments, how does that distinction translate in practice?
JI: When you are building a project on the scale of Diriyah – a $63 billion plus fully-integrated urban development of global scale and impact to an unprecedented timeline – confidence in the ability to deliver is vital.
That is where the backing of the Public Investment Fund is fundamental and gives potential investors, partners and other stakeholders the reassurance to commit to being a part of the Diriyah journey.
Especially when you are developing a 14‑square‑kilometre core area that will deliver homes for up to 100,000 residents, alongside offices for tens of thousands of technologies, media and arts professionals, as well as retail districts, museums, schools, entertainment venues and world‑class hotels.
Today, for our partners, seeing is also believing as we open new assets and have already welcomed over 4.7 million visits to our UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif, our Bujairi Terrace dining district, mixed-use complex Zallal and our first hotel – the 134 room Bab Samhan.
With construction now progressing across Diriyah and our neighbouring luxury lifestyle district of Wadi Safar, international partners are more confident than ever in the strength of our long‑term vision and our ability to deliver.
We are a destination that will welcome 50 million annual visits in the future and is another reason why the world’s most prestigious luxury hotel brands are choosing Diriyah, with several making their debut in Saudi Arabia and in some cases the wider region.
Diriyah recently recorded over 13,000 visitors to At-Turaif on a single weekday evening, with advance ticketing required. What does this level of organic demand signal to brands assessing market depth?
JI: Since we opened our doors to the world in December 2022, we have welcomed over 5 million visitors, Diriyah and At-Turaif have become a must visit destination.
The volume of visitors and footfall in a place like Bujairi Terrace is why brands like Dolce&Gabbana have opened a boutique and their first café outside their home city of Portofino.
Diriyah is also where we host over one million visits a year to Diriyah Season as we celebrate Saudi arts, culture and cuisine during the winter months. We have seen Diriyah endorsed by global political leaders and sporting superstars who have all visited and been amazed by what we have today and what we plan for tomorrow.
We recently welcomed HRH Prince William, the Prince of Wales, and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Diriyah.
For brands seeking a distinguished new location to establish themselves, our exceptional connectivity at just 15 minutes from central Riyadh and under 30 minutes from King Khalid International Airport, offers a highly compelling advantage.
Visitor numbers from local residents, the region, and around the world are growing all the time and it is these volumes that are powerful signals to existing brands and potential future demand.
With a 2030 delivery horizon aligned with Riyadh Expo and 60,000 workers currently on site, what underpins confidence in delivery at this scale?
JI: The simple fact that we now have over 60,000 people on site reflects the remarkable pace of progress being made across construction.
They are helping us deliver multiple districts in parallel which includes infrastructure, cultural assets, residential communities and commercial spaces that are all progressing in a coordinated way, supported by global partners and rigorous project management.
As one of the Kingdom’s leading giga– projects, we are proud to be helping deliver Vision 2030 and are creating 180,000 jobs while contributing $18.6 billion to Saudi GDP.
Our progress is also shown by the way we have now awarded approximately $30 billion in contracts with our pace of development demonstrating a structured and highly coordinated approach.
Confidence in what we are achieving is reinforced by our partnerships with leading bodies including the Ministry of Culture, Royal Commission for Riyadh City and Golf Saudi among many others.
As a culture-led city attracting leading global brands, what does Diriyah offer that no other destination currently provides? What does a commitment here signal that other locations cannot?
JI: Above all else, Diriyah offers something truly rare at this scale – authenticity woven into every touchpoint of the City of Earth. Something you rarely see, if at all, in a project of this size and scale.
There is simply no other urban development in the world of this scale that has embedded culture so comprehensively into how it is being shaped for today and future generations.
Diriyah is a human-centric environment, walkable, open-air, low-rise, and designed around quality of life for everyone who lives, works, and visits there. It is planned to foster a true sense of community, belonging, and everyday wellbeing.
For retailers, we have flagship districts like the pedestrianised Diriyah Square or our homage to the Champs Elysee in Paris with our own 1.9-kilometer grand avenue.
We are planting over 6.5 million native trees and plants, building parks and shaded walkways, cycle paths and our stunning 3-kilometer escarpment walk overlooking Wadi Hanifah.
Diriyah also pays homage to Saudi Arabia’s rich Najdi mudbrick heritage and every element – architecture, urban design, programming – is rooted in this three-centuries-old design fabric while ensuring we meet the global standards of sustainable building excellence.
For every type of brand, a presence in Diriyah is not simply about location. It is about association—with authenticity, long-term vision, and a place of deep meaning.
Diriyah offers multiple entry points for partners, including joint ventures, PPP models, and programmes such as ‘Be Ready’. What does the pathway from initial engagement to formal commitment typically look like?
JI: We have designed multiple entry points to reflect the diversity of our partners, from joint ventures to PPP models and more recently launched structured programmes such as ‘Be Ready’ programme: a proactive initiative designed to strengthen engagement between Diriyah Company and the regional design and fit out industry.
The process itself is detailed, planned and very deliberate. It begins with alignment – ensuring that partners understand the vision, standards, and long-term nature of the development.
From there, we move through structured engagement, design integration, and commercial agreement.
Timelines vary depending on the scale and nature of the partnership, but the focus remains consistent: to always ensure quality, alignment, and long-term value over speed and a desire to build lasting value rather than accelerating short-term commitments.
This is a development where the quality of every one of Diriyah’s partnerships matters as much as pace.
Diriyah’s legacy spans over three centuries. As the project looks toward the next century, what does that continuity require from the organization and its partners?
JI: Diriyah’s proud legacy stretches back more than 300 years. From the very beginning, Diriyah Company has been committed not only to honouring that history, but to building a legacy of its own for generations to come.
We are long-term planners. Our masterplans today represent the first phase of a much longer journey that will enable Diriyah to grow, evolve and flourish well into the future.
Our ambition is to shape a place that future generations will be proud to inherit and experience. That means preserving heritage, embedding sustainability, and creating a place where people can live, work, and play and enjoy meaningful, rewarding lives.
We are confident in the path we are taking, but enduring success also depends on the right partners, people and institutions, those who share our long-term vision and understand the scale of what is being created here.
Our responsibility is not only to deliver a city, but to ensure Diriyah is a place that can proudly stand with integrity for generations to come.
