“Despite the pandemic, officials are targeting 11.5 million visitors — including half a million international tourists — for the festival, which they hope will help fill hotels and line the pockets of local Uber drivers after the economy contracted 4.1% last year.”

–Vivian Nereim, writing for Bloomberg, on the second ‘Riyadh Season’ which will be six months long instead of three based on the success of the inaugural season in 2019 when government reportedly spent $830 million on events that generated $1.6 billion in “direct and indirect” revenue. [Bloomberg]