Tourism & Hospitality | Tuesday 1 May, 2018 3:00 am |

Minister of Culture and Information and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Audio-Visual Media Authority Awwad Al-Awwad opened on Monday evening a four-screen multiplex theater, the Vox Cinema, at Riyadh Park.

This is the second cinema theater to open in Saudi Arabia in as many weeks.

Awwad said the competition will help create more recreational choices and options for citizens. It will also contribute effectively in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), support the national economy and provide many jobs.

The inauguration ceremony included live shows apart from a special show of the movie “Avengers: Infinity War” at the IMAX hall and the movie Ferdinand at KIDS Cinema.

VOX Cinemas is the MENA region’s largest cinema operator and received a license to operate cinemas in Saudi Arabia.

The authorities plan to set up around 350 cinemas with over 2,500 screens by 2030, which they hope will attract nearly $1 billion in annual ticket sales.

VOX said in a statement it was investing SR2 billion ($533 million) in Saudi Arabia to open 600 screens in the next five years, starting at Riyadh Park Mall which will host the Kingdom's first IMAX screen.