Travel Coordinator Services

Our Saudi travel coordinators book and manage cast and crew movement. They use the Saudia and Riyadh Air national carriers. Airports include Riyadh King Khalid International, Jeddah King Abdulaziz International, Dammam King Fahd International, AlUla Prince Abdul Majeed Bin Abdulaziz International, and NEOM Bay Airport. We also route crews across the border via Dubai. That is a 90-min DXB to RUH hop or a 12-hour E11 highway drive. For AlUla shoots, the hotel set is Habitas AlUla, Banyan Tree AlUla, Shaden Resort AlUla, and Cloud7 AlUla. Those rooms served Kandahar (2023, Gerard Butler, $43M, dir. Ric Roman Waugh), Desert Warrior (2024, Anthony Mackie, dir. Rupert Wyatt), Cherry (Apple TV+), and Hellraiser plates (2022). For Jeddah shoots, we use Ritz-Carlton Jeddah (the Red Sea International Film Festival press window venue), Park Hyatt Jeddah, and Waldorf Astoria Jeddah. For Riyadh, we use Four Seasons Riyadh, Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, Hilton Riyadh, and Boulevard Hilton. For NEOM, we use NEOM Bajdah lodging and Sindalah (opened Oct 2024). Per-diems track the Saudi SAR, pegged 3.75:1 to USD. Zero personal income tax keeps net pay strong for global crews.

Now to visa and residency. Entry runs on a Ministry of Foreign Affairs work visa. Work permits come from the Ministry of Human Resources. An Iqama (residency permit) is needed for stays over 90 days. The Film Crew Visa is processed through GCAM (General Commission for Audiovisual Media), set up with the Saudi Film Commission. The schedule works around prayer-time pauses, five each day (Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha). Friday adds a pause near 12:00-13:30 that shifts check-in and check-out timing. In Ramadan, the iftar-to-suhoor 9pm-2am window is the peak. Daytime restaurants are then off-limits. Hotel iftar buffets run after Maghrib sunset, and suhoor runs pre-Fajr. October-April is the ideal shoot window (15-30°C). June-September brings an extreme 45-50°C. Female crew get a modest dress code briefing on arrival. An abaya is advised in public, but a hijab is not needed for foreign women. No alcohol is allowed kingdom-wide, since Saudi national law applies to hotels. Mecca and Medina stay off-limits to all but Muslim visitors. On compliance, we run GOSI payroll sign-ups. There is a 15% VAT, recoverable for global shoots via ZATCA. Travel cover comes from Tawuniya, Bupa Arabia, Walaa Insurance, or AXA Cooperative. Saudization Nitaqat quotas apply. Saudi-national hires drive a 5% rebates uplift on the Cultural Development Fund's 40% cash rebates. The workweek runs Sunday-Thursday. There is no domestic Saudi travel union. Global IATSE and DGA travel-desk planning runs via Dubai EPS bureaus.