Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince meets with SeaWorld execs

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with executives from SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment on Tuesday during his visit to San Francisco.

SeaWorld’s CEO Joel Manby said that his company were looking at all the options for expanding global operations in tourism and looking for new partners, including Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has beautiful coastlines filled with marine life and wild animals and it is in need for a tourism push. We are waiting for the opportunity to go there,” Joel said.

SeaWorld has over 12 destination and regional theme parks that are grouped in key markets across the United States, many of which showcase zoological collections of over 800 species of animals.

The company received 22.5 million visitors last year, including 3.3 million visitors from outside the United States.

It registered a revenue: $1.37bn ending December 2015 with a net income at $49.1m.

Providing a space for entertainment and promoting culture is featured prominently in Saudi Arabia’s vision for the future that was announced in April.

Under the vision, Saudi Arabia has said it is planning to provide “land suitable for cultural and entertainment projects. Talented writers, authors and directors will be supported.”

Prince Mohammed bin Salman is currently visiting the US where he met with American officials last week including US President Barack Obama. He's currently meeting with technology giants in Silicon Valley in talks about further investments.

He met a day earlier and signed a memorandum of understanding was signed with Cisco Systems to help develop the digital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Technology, economy leads Saudi deputy crown prince to Silicon Valley