DUBAI -- Saudi Arabia has decided not to hold its flagship investor conference in person next week and instead will hold it fully online or postpone the event entirely, people familiar with the matter said, highlighting how missile attacks on the kingdom's airports and capital city by the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen are threatening its economic ambitions.

Either option would mean executives and officials won't have to travel to the conference next week.

Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative, a marquee showcase for foreign investment, was to gather the global financial elite in Riyadh beginning Oct. 26. Organizers decided Monday that if the conference goes ahead, its sessions will be held virtually rather than in person, the people said. The kingdom is expected to make a decision Tuesday or earlier whether to postpone the event, they said. Postponement is the most likely outcome, some of the people said.

The escalating conflict with the Houthis is compounding the challenges facing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's push to attract foreign investment and spur growth as mounting war costs strain the kingdom's already stressed finances.

Billed as "Davos in the Desert," the annual FII gathering had become a centerpiece of his Vision 2030 agenda to turn the oil exporter into an international hub for business and tourism.

Wall Street executives were already reconsidering whether to travel to the conference, weighing security concerns against the risk of offending their wealthy hosts. Some bankers at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup were canceling meetings, while personnel around JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Citi's Jane Fraser deliberated over whether the chief executives should attend.

Attendees were consulting security teams about the risks, including concerns that hotels and landmarks around the conference could become targets.

The conference is one of several events the kingdom has been forced to modify, cancel or postpone amid the wave of attacks on Saudi airports. They include a summit bringing together leaders of the European Union and Gulf Arab states, the Riyadh Fashion Week, the Six Kings Slam marquee tennis tournament, and the PIF Saudi International golf tournament.

The Houthis ramped up an offensive at the end of the summer, seizing strategic territory along the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint and threatening Saudi oil exports. The militants have stepped up attacks on the kingdom's refineries and airports, saying aviation would be treated as part of the battlefield.

The Houthis have attacked the international airport in Riyadh at least four times in the past two weeks. One strike killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300. Five more people were killed and dozens more injured in the other strikes, the kingdom told reporters last week.

Saudi Arabia has struggled to cover the vast country against attacks from Iran, the Iraqi militias Tehran backs and now the Houthis, shifting air-defense batteries around to try to protect palaces and energy infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

In all, the Houthis hit Riyadh's international airport with 20 projectiles during the attacks including 10 drones, four ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and two unidentified projectiles, the kingdom said.

The Houthis and Saudi Arabia fought for years after Riyadh intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015. A ceasefire struck in 2022 fell apart amid renewed fighting this summer.

Saudi travel and tourism had been growing above target and faster than the global average before the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and now the conflict with the Houthis. The crown prince had seen success in other areas as well. The non-oil side of the economy had grown to more than half the total, millions of women had joined the workforce and domestic spending on tourism and entertainment was up.

The Future Investment Initiative is a symbol of Saudi Arabia's expanding ties with global finance. Bankers and investors have cultivated relationships with the kingdom to secure capital for artificial-intelligence ventures and private equity, while helping Saudi Arabia raise money for the crown prince's transformation plans.

Those relationships recovered after many Wall Street figures shunned the gathering in 2018 following the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The decision to hold the conference online if at all comes as economic pressures on the kingdom intensify. Saudi Arabia's Finance Ministry expects the economy to shrink 3.6% this year. Net foreign direct investment inflows fell from a year earlier in both the first and second quarters, while rising defense and infrastructure costs threaten to divert money from megaprojects intended to reduce dependence on oil.

Many of those projects were already stalled or under review, including developments intended to draw tourists and showcase the kingdom's modernization. In January, Saudi Arabia abandoned plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The kingdom also faces enormous spending commitments ahead of the World Expo in 2030 and the soccer World Cup four years later.