Event Manager Salary in Saudi Arabia: Complete Compensation Guide 2026

Event Manager Compensation in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is undergoing the most dramatic transformation of its events and entertainment landscape in the nation’s history. Driven by Vision 2030’s explicit goal to establish the Kingdom as a global entertainment and tourism destination, billions of riyals are being invested in event infrastructure, entertainment venues, and cultural programming that would have been inconceivable just a decade ago. The General Entertainment Authority (GEA), established in 2016, has been the engine of this revolution, licensing thousands of entertainment activities annually and creating an entirely new industry that requires tens of thousands of skilled professionals—from event coordinators managing logistics at Riyadh Season to executive producers overseeing multi-billion riyal entertainment districts.

Riyadh Season, the flagship entertainment festival organized under the patronage of His Excellency Turki Al Sheikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, has become one of the largest and most ambitious event programs anywhere in the world. The 2023–2024 edition attracted over 15 million visitors across dozens of entertainment zones spanning Riyadh, featuring international music festivals, theatrical productions, sporting events (including boxing world championship bouts and professional wrestling spectacles), gaming tournaments, culinary festivals, and cultural exhibitions. The sheer scale of Riyadh Season has created extraordinary demand for Event Managers who can handle productions of a magnitude rarely seen elsewhere, and the compensation packages reflect this demand.

Beyond Riyadh Season, the Kingdom’s events calendar has expanded exponentially. Jeddah Season provides a coastal entertainment complement to the capital’s offerings. MDL Beast, the mega music festival held in Riyadh, has established itself as the Middle East’s answer to Coachella, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees and international headliners. The Saudi Motorsport Company operates the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, a night race along the Corniche that has become one of the most spectacular events on the F1 calendar. Diriyah, the historic birthplace of the Saudi state, hosts premium sporting and cultural events at the purpose-built Diriyah Arena, including boxing, tennis, and equestrian competitions. NEOM, the futuristic megacity under construction in the northwest, is already hosting events as part of its brand-building and community-engagement strategy.

Salary Overview by Experience Level

Event Manager salaries in Saudi Arabia have risen dramatically since 2019, reflecting the explosive growth of the entertainment sector and the intense competition for experienced professionals. The following ranges represent monthly base salaries in SAR and reflect current 2026 market conditions across Riyadh, Jeddah, and other cities.

Entry-Level Event Coordinator / Junior Event Manager (0–3 years): SAR 6,000–10,000 per month. Entry-level professionals handle event logistics, vendor coordination, guest management, and on-site operations support. The Saudi entertainment industry’s rapid expansion has created significant entry-level opportunities, with the GEA, Riyadh Season organizing committees, and event production agencies actively recruiting fresh graduates and junior professionals. Candidates with degrees in event management, communications, or hospitality from Saudi or international universities start at SAR 7,000–10,000. Those transitioning from related fields like marketing or hospitality operations may begin at SAR 6,000–8,000. Saudi nationals benefit from Saudization requirements that give them priority access to many event management roles, particularly within government-affiliated entities.

Mid-Level Event Manager (4–7 years): SAR 10,000–18,000 per month. At this stage, professionals manage events end-to-end, develop creative concepts, manage budgets exceeding SAR 500,000, negotiate vendor contracts, and lead on-site production teams. Event Managers working on Riyadh Season activations, GEA-licensed events, or corporate conferences for major Saudi entities like Saudi Aramco, SABIC, or STC earn SAR 12,000–18,000. Those at mid-tier agencies handling corporate events and brand activations earn SAR 10,000–15,000. The mid-level market is particularly competitive, with Saudi employers aggressively recruiting experienced Event Managers from the UAE, Europe, and North America, often offering relocation packages and signing bonuses to attract talent with the right combination of skills and cultural adaptability.

Senior Event Manager / Head of Events (8–15 years): SAR 18,000–28,000 per month. Senior professionals lead event departments, manage large-scale productions, oversee vendor ecosystems, and bear responsibility for the creative vision and financial performance of event portfolios. Senior Event Managers at the GEA or its affiliated entities earn SAR 20,000–28,000. Those heading event operations at giga-project developments like NEOM, The Red Sea (RSG events), Diriyah Gate, or Qiddiya earn SAR 22,000–28,000, reflecting the prestige and complexity of these assignments. Agency heads managing Saudi operations for international event companies earn SAR 18,000–25,000.

Executive Level / Events Director / VP of Entertainment (15+ years): SAR 28,000–45,000 per month. Executives at this tier set strategic direction for entertainment and events programs, manage relationships with government stakeholders including the GEA and Royal Court, oversee budgets in the hundreds of millions of riyals, and lead teams of dozens or hundreds of event professionals. Events Directors at the GEA, Saudi Motorsport Company, or MDL Beast earn SAR 30,000–45,000 in base salary, with performance bonuses tied to event attendance, revenue generation, and international media coverage metrics that can add four to eight months of base salary annually. Regional directors at international event agencies with Saudi mandates earn SAR 28,000–38,000.

The Riyadh Season Effect on Compensation

Riyadh Season has fundamentally reshaped event management compensation in Saudi Arabia. The festival’s enormous scale—operating across dozens of venues simultaneously over several months, with individual events ranging from intimate dining experiences to stadium-scale concerts—requires hundreds of event professionals working in coordinated teams. The Riyadh Season organizing committee and its network of production partners have established compensation benchmarks that exceed traditional Saudi event industry norms by 20–40%.

Event Managers recruited for Riyadh Season typically receive fixed-term contracts covering the festival period (usually five to six months) with monthly salaries that reflect the intense workload and the expectation of seven-day work weeks during peak periods. Mid-level Event Managers on Riyadh Season contracts earn SAR 14,000–22,000 per month, while senior production managers and zone directors can earn SAR 25,000–35,000. These contracts often include accommodation, transport, and meal allowances in addition to base salary, and successful performance frequently leads to offers for year-round positions with the organizing entity or its partners.

The ripple effect of Riyadh Season extends across the entire Saudi events market. Corporate clients and government entities now benchmark their event quality against Riyadh Season productions, which has raised expectations and correspondingly increased the premium paid for experienced Event Managers who can deliver comparable quality. Agencies that supply talent to Riyadh Season have also adjusted their permanent staff compensation upward to prevent their best people from leaving for festival contracts.

Giga-Projects and Their Event Management Opportunities

Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects represent some of the most extraordinary event management opportunities available anywhere in the world today, and they are creating a new category of Event Manager roles that command premium compensation.

NEOM: The USD 500 billion megacity project in Tabuk Province includes THE LINE (a 170-kilometer-long linear city), Trojena (a mountain resort hosting the 2029 Asian Winter Games), Sindalah (a luxury island resort), and Oxagon (an advanced industrial city). NEOM’s events division manages everything from construction milestone celebrations and investor events to community engagement programs and international media events designed to build the NEOM brand. Event Managers at NEOM earn 15–25% above Riyadh market rates, reflecting the remote location premium and the prestige of the assignment.

Diriyah Gate: The historic district development includes the Diriyah Arena, a purpose-built 15,000-seat venue that has hosted world championship boxing, ATP tennis tournaments, and cultural festivals. Event Managers at the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) manage a year-round program of sporting, cultural, and entertainment events that showcase the district as a living cultural destination. Compensation includes base salaries of SAR 15,000–30,000 for mid-to-senior roles, with project bonuses for successful event delivery.

Qiddiya: The entertainment mega-project south of Riyadh is developing into a world-class entertainment, sports, and cultural destination spanning 334 square kilometers. When fully operational, Qiddiya will feature theme parks, motorsport facilities, a performing arts complex, and a gaming hub. Event Managers involved in Qiddiya’s pre-opening phase are managing launch events, stakeholder experiences, and brand-building activations, with salaries reflecting pre-opening premiums of 15–20% above operational rates.

Saudi Motorsport Company: Managing the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and associated events in Jeddah, this entity requires Event Managers with specialized expertise in international sporting event production, broadcast logistics, sponsor activation, and VIP hospitality at the highest level. Compensation for F1 event professionals ranges from SAR 16,000–35,000 depending on seniority, with the race weekend itself demanding exceptional operational intensity.

Benefits Package

Event Managers in Saudi Arabia receive comprehensive benefits that enhance the overall compensation package, though the specific benefits vary between government-affiliated entities, private sector employers, and international agencies.

Housing Allowance: Most Saudi employers provide a housing allowance of 25–35% of base salary. For a mid-level Event Manager earning SAR 14,000 per month, this translates to SAR 3,500–4,900 monthly. Expatriate Event Managers recruited from abroad often receive furnished accommodation for the first three to six months while they settle in, followed by a cash allowance. Riyadh and Jeddah are the primary posting locations, with rent for a modern one-bedroom apartment ranging from SAR 2,000–5,000 per month depending on neighborhood and quality.

Transport Allowance: Monthly transport allowances of SAR 1,000–2,500 are standard. Senior managers typically receive company vehicles. Given Saudi Arabia’s car-centric urban design, reliable transport is essential for event professionals who frequently travel between venues, warehouses, vendor locations, and client offices.

Medical Insurance: Comprehensive medical insurance is mandatory under Saudi labor law (the CCHI system) and typically covers the employee and dependents. International event companies and major Saudi entities provide premium coverage that includes dental, optical, and international emergency evacuation. Coverage valued at SAR 6,000–20,000 per year depending on tier and family size.

Annual Leave and Flights: Event Managers typically receive 21–30 days of annual leave plus Saudi public holidays (including the extended Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha breaks). Annual return flights to the employee’s home country are standard for expatriates. Some employers provide two sets of return flights for employees with families.

End-of-Service Gratuity: Saudi labor law mandates end-of-service benefits calculated as half a month’s salary per year for the first five years and one full month per year thereafter. For an Event Manager earning SAR 18,000 per month who completes six years of service, the gratuity would amount to approximately SAR 63,000—a meaningful lump sum upon departure.

Saudization and Its Impact on Hiring

Saudi Arabia’s Saudization (Nitaqat) program sets mandatory quotas for Saudi national employment across private sector industries. The entertainment and events sector is classified within the hospitality and tourism category, which has specific Saudization targets that employers must meet to maintain their operating status.

For expatriate Event Managers, this means that employers must justify hiring non-Saudi professionals by demonstrating that the specific expertise required is not available in the local market. In practice, specialized skills in large-scale entertainment production, international sports event management, and MICE conference design remain areas where expatriate expertise is actively sought. The GEA and major event producers continue to recruit experienced Event Managers from the UAE, Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia for senior and specialist roles, while simultaneously developing Saudi talent through training programs and mentorship initiatives.

For Saudi nationals, the events industry represents one of the most exciting career paths available, offering creative work, exposure to international entertainment, and the opportunity to build the Kingdom’s cultural identity. Saudi Event Managers benefit from Saudization premiums at some employers (additional SAR 1,000–3,000 per month above market rates) and priority consideration for roles at government-affiliated entities.

Certifications and Career Advancement

Professional certifications enhance both employability and compensation in Saudi Arabia’s event management market. The CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) is valued for corporate event and conference management roles, with certified professionals earning 10–12% premiums in the Saudi market. The CSEP (Certified Special Events Professional) is particularly relevant for entertainment and social event specialists working on Riyadh Season or cultural festival productions. PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is increasingly requested for Event Managers at giga-projects like NEOM and Qiddiya, where event production is managed within formal project management frameworks.

Career progression in Saudi Arabia’s events industry can be exceptionally rapid for high performers. The market’s explosive growth means that an Event Manager who delivers consistently strong results can advance from mid-level to senior management within three to four years—significantly faster than in more mature markets. The critical career accelerators are demonstrated ability to manage events at scale (10,000+ attendees), experience with government and VIP events requiring protocol expertise, strong Arabic language skills (essential for client-facing roles with Saudi stakeholders), and a network of reliable vendor relationships across the Kingdom.

Market Outlook and Future Compensation Trends

The outlook for Event Managers in Saudi Arabia is among the most positive of any market globally. Vision 2030’s entertainment and tourism goals require sustained investment in events infrastructure and talent, and the Kingdom’s massive financial resources ensure that this investment will continue regardless of short-term market fluctuations.

Key trends shaping the future compensation landscape include the following. The continued scaling of seasonal entertainment festivals (Riyadh Season, Jeddah Season) will maintain premium demand for experienced production professionals. The approaching operational phases of giga-projects (NEOM, Qiddiya, Diriyah Gate) will create hundreds of permanent Event Manager positions at premium salary levels. The 2029 Asian Winter Games at Trojena (NEOM) will generate a massive spike in demand for Event Managers with international sporting event experience. Saudi Arabia’s ambition to host a FIFA World Cup (the 2034 bid) would represent the single largest event management mobilization in the country’s history, creating thousands of event professional positions at all levels.

For Event Managers considering a move to Saudi Arabia, the window of opportunity is wide open. Early movers who establish themselves in the Kingdom’s events industry now will be positioned for senior leadership roles as the market matures, benefiting from both the immediate compensation premiums and the long-term career trajectory that comes from shaping one of the world’s most ambitious entertainment transformations.

Salary Negotiation Tips for Saudi Arabia

• Research the entity type. Government-affiliated event organizations (GEA, Diriyah Gate, Saudi Motorsport Company) have different budget structures and negotiation flexibility than private agencies. Government entities often have standardized pay scales with limited negotiation on base salary but flexible benefits. Private agencies and production companies have more room to negotiate base pay, especially for specialists.
• Factor in the location. Riyadh and Jeddah offer the most event management opportunities, but remote postings at giga-projects like NEOM or Red Sea Global carry location premiums of 10–20%. Negotiate these premiums explicitly rather than assuming they are included in base offers.
• Negotiate contract duration carefully. Saudi event contracts range from project-based (three to six months for seasonal festivals) to multi-year (for giga-project positions). Longer contracts typically offer lower monthly rates but better total compensation through end-of-service gratuity accumulation and annual increments. Evaluate your total package over the full contract period.
• Highlight Arabic language proficiency. Event Managers with strong Arabic language skills (conversational or above) command premiums of 10–15% in client-facing roles. If you speak Arabic, ensure this is prominently featured in negotiations.
• Leverage the talent shortage. Saudi Arabia’s events industry is growing faster than its talent pipeline. If you have specialized experience (entertainment production, sports events, mega-event management), you are in a seller’s market. Multiple employers are likely competing for your skills, so use this leverage to negotiate premium terms.

Giga-Project Compensation Intelligence

Access detailed compensation data for Event Manager roles across Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects, including NEOM, Diriyah Gate, Qiddiya, Red Sea Global, and the Riyadh Season organizing committee. This exclusive analysis includes base salary bands by role level, location premiums, project completion bonuses, accommodation arrangements (company-provided versus allowance), and the specific contract structures used by each entity. Also includes intelligence on upcoming hiring waves tied to project milestones and event calendar expansions.

Saudi Event Industry Networking Guide

Get an insider’s guide to building your professional network in Saudi Arabia’s events industry. Covers the key industry associations, networking events, and professional communities where hiring decisions are influenced. Includes tips on navigating the culturally specific aspects of Saudi business relationship building that are essential for career advancement in the Kingdom’s events sector.