Saudi Arabia shared their view for the future of tourism in an address by Ahmad Al-Khateeb, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. This was at a meeting of G20 tourism ministers in Japan.
Chairman shared their strategy for developing its emerging tourism industry as per the Vision 2030 goals to build a thriving society and diversified economy. He also focused on the Kingdom’s commitment to furthering tourism’s contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The meeting gave Saudi Arabia a chance to frame its plan to place tourism, one of the world’s fastest-growing economic sectors, along with the main subjects of discussion when the Kingdom assumes the G20 presidency in 2020.
“Our strategy is to grow tourism from 3 percent to 10 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, and to increase visitor numbers from 18 million a year to 100 million by 2030. This will, in turn, provide a total of 1.5 million jobs or 10 percent of the total workforce, predominantly among the young. We are committed to working with our partners across the tourism ecosystem to achieve these goals while protecting the economic, environmental and social well-being of the local communities affected by tourism.” Said Al-Khateeb.
