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Future of Tourism

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Ready to shape the future of tourism?

Deploy your solution in one of the world's most extraordinary destinations. This international acceleration programme positions AlUla (home to Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage site) as a living laboratory for the future of tourism.

Over 3 months at STATION F, selected startups tackle real-world challenges across three verticals: Visitor Experience, Cultural Retail, and Smart Agriculture with the opportunity to deploy a funded pilot on-site in AlUla.

The programme is led by four partners with complementary expertise: RCU, AFALULA, STATION F and Galeries Lafayette.

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STATION F, Paris

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In person · 3-month programme

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Apply here - Applications open July 9-July 29

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About AlUla

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Nestled in northwest Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and cultural heritage. This vast region spans 22,561 km² and includes a lush valley, imposing sandstone mountains, and ancient cultural sites dating back several millennia to the Lihyanite and Nabataean kingdoms. The most renowned and recognized site in AlUla is Hegra, the first Saudi site to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Covering 52 hectares, Hegra was the main southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom. It features more than 140 well-preserved tombs, many with elaborate facades carved into the surrounding sandstone outcrops that enclose the fortified urban area. Current research also suggests that Hegra was the southernmost outpost of the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of the Nabataeans in 106 AD. Beyond Hegra, AlUla is also home to the ancient city of Dadan, capital of the Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms, considered one of the most developed cities of the first millennium BCE in the Arabian Peninsula. The region also includes Jabal Ikmah, an open-air library containing hundreds of inscriptions and writings in several languages, recently listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

In addition, AlUla's historic Old Town, a true labyrinth of more than 900 mudbrick houses built as early as the 12th century, was selected by the World Tourism Organization as one of the Best Tourism Villages in the world in 2022. For more information, please visit https://www.rcu.gov.sa/en

Since its establishment, the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA) has placed innovation at the heart of its mission to co-create the tourism of tomorrow. Supporting the development of an exceptional tourism destination, reflecting the richness of AlUla's heritage lies at the core of AFALULA's purpose. Innovation plays an important role in supporting AlUla's long-term development, helping identify practical solutions that enhance the destination experience and create value for the local ecosystem.

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A partnership of complementary expertise

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Through this partnership, RCU, AFALULA, STATION F and Galeries Lafayette bring complementary expertise to support selected startups in exploring practical innovation solutions that can enhance AlUla's visitor experience, destination operations and long-term value creation.

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RCU

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is developing AlUla as a vibrant place to live, work, and visit. Through sustainable development, RCU is preserving AlUla's unique cultural and natural heritage while enhancing quality of life for residents, enriching the visitor experience, and creating long-term social and economic opportunities in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

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AFALULA

The French Agency for AlUla Development, created in 2018 through an intergovernmental agreement between France and Saudi Arabia, supports RCU by mobilising French expertise in culture, heritage, tourism and innovation. AFALULA co-designs and implements the programme alongside RCU.

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STATION F

STATION F is the world's largest startup campus, founded by Xavier Niel in Paris in 2017. Every year, we support 1,000+ startups through 30 programs. Our community includes four unicorns - Hugging Face, Alan, Profound and Pasqal - and in 2025, STATION F startups raised more than €1.5 billion. STATION F brings its international network and expertise in designing and delivering innovation programmes, and hosts the cohort throughout the acceleration.

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Galeries Lafayette

Brings 130+ years of expertise in customer experience, retail and premium visitor journey, drawing on its Boulevard Haussmann flagship, one of the world's most visited department stores, as a living laboratory for premium experiences. Galeries Lafayette Haussmann welcomed 35 million visitors last year.

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The startup challenges

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The programme brings together international startups for a 3-month journey across three key verticals: Visitor Experience, Smart Agriculture and Cultural Retail.

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Visitor Experience

The challenges

  1. How might we create more engaging, personalized, and meaningful experiences that resonate with diverse segments across our historical, arts and cultural destinations and districts?
  2. How might we leverage technology to support responsible operations of heritage sites and cultural destinations, museums, in ways that further efficiency, intelligence and commercial sustainability?
  3. How can AI and publicly available data be used to continuously monitor market trends, audience signals, peer destination activity, events, and emerging opportunities relevant to AlUla?

🎯 Objectives: 1. Increase visitor engagement with culture, heritage, and arts 2. Increase Visitor Net Promoter Index (NPS) 3. Increase Number of Visitors to AlUla

Visitor Experience - Background & Context

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Smart Agriculture

The challenges

  1. How might we use emerging and intelligent systems to optimize water management in ways that improve the quality and volume of agricultural produce?
  2. How might we use innovative sensing and monitoring systems in farm management to address the shortage of skilled labor to improve the quality and volume of agricultural produce?

🎯 Objectives: Increase the volume of valorized agricultural produce generated

Smart Agriculture - Background & Context

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Cultural Retail

The challenge

  1. How might we ensure more profitability stemmed from cultural retail offerings by creating more financially sustainable operating models for AlUla cultural retails?

🎯 Objectives: 1. Increase the accessibility of cultural retail physical format 2. Decrease operational costs

Cultural Retail - Background & Context

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