Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — A crowd of over 500 engaged community members who came together on Thursday evening to celebrate the launch of the brand new Destination magazine, a publication that has served the Kingdom as its premier city guide covering the major cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Sharqiya (Eastern Province) for the past 10 years.

The crowd comprised influential members of the community, media personalities, entrepreneurs, diplomats, top business people and the evening’s celebrated guests: Brave New Saudis.

The event highlighted the theme of Destination KSA’s Issue No. 1 A Brave New Saudi, a nod to the positive changes that the Kingdom and its people, especially its youth, have gone through in the past year.

The year 2018 signaled the start of a new era, one that celebrates excellence, global citizenship, diversity, passion, and authenticity, and the Issue No. 1 serves as a reflection of this forward movement.

After a decade of serving Saudi locals and residents with information on what to do, where to go, and who to meet within the pages of three sister publications Destination Jeddah, Destination Riyadh and Destination Sharqiya, the publisher Rumman has combined all three into one nationwide magazine, Destination KSA, catering to all other cities of the Kingdom, including Madinah, Taif, Ahsa, Hail, and many more.

At the launch, outgoing Editor-in-Chief Enas Hashani welcomed the community and opened the event, thanking the audience for their decade-long support for Destination with her at the helm. She then introduced incoming Editor-in-Chief Maria Mahdaly, who takes the reins at the head of Destination KSA as Hashani steps up as publisher.

Mahdaly was instrumental in the creation of Destination in 2008, and for the past decade, she played a major and crucial part in maintaining the quality of the magazine’s content.

Taking the position of Editor-in-Chief was the natural next step, and her background in design, content, and business is welcomed by the Destination team.

The crowd attending the event at Makan Space was entertained all evening with games, food, Let’s Poze photobooth and more. The launch also featured live performances by Saudi rapper, AlMolham, and Vinyl Mode as the evening’s DJ.

“We are honored to have members of our community here, and we are grateful for the support we have been shown in these past 10 years. We look forward to serving our locals and residents with useful information on the Kingdom, while at the same time also holding up a mirror to reflect all the positive outcomes of our hard work in making good change happen,” Hashani said.

Mahdaly added, “We’ve got some exciting content lined up for our readers. Our community has grown exponentially since we started, and we’re ready to provide them with information relevant to their interests; our team is working hard to also deliver stories that reflect our culture and values. We invite everyone to reach out to us.”

The launch was supported by some of the biggest local names in the startup and business arena, including GAG, Marina Home Interiors, Brioche, Waffleteria, Dino’s Tacos, Brew 92, Dolphin, Dots, Gilt, The Warehouse, Coz, Alt, Odette, Anstna, Montana, New Generation, Let’s Poze, Lush, Capsoul, AlMalki, Leaves, Spark, Stickeraat, Lavande, and Parkin-ly.