SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $1tn in tourism over 10 years

Saudi Arabia Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb said the country has allocated more than $1 trillion to invest in the tourism sector over the next 10 years.

Al Khateeb told a panel titled the Future of Tourism at the fifth Future Investment Initiative on Tuesday that the kingdom is one of the biggest investors in tourism – a sector that was hit hard by the movement restrictions enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Tourism and travel were the most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic among the sectors of the global economy, but we are on the path to a return to recovery, which needs international co-operation to improve the recovery phase,” he said.

The minister said that economies would not recover until tourism improves. “And that means we must unite as a global sector to redesign tourism based on shared principles that define the future we want to see.”

The tourism sector is likely to create 260,000 jobs over the next three years while it aims to provide one million jobs by 2030, bringing the total to about 1.6 million jobs, Al Khateeb said.

The minister urged countries to work together at large, including governments and the private sector, developed and developing nations, “to strengthen tourism organizations and increase representation in forums like the G20”, which Saudi Arabia hosted last year, to deliver “the future for tourism that we all want and need”.

    Source:
  • The National News