Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb participated in the activities of the GREAT Futures Initiative conference, which is being held at the King Abdullah Financial Center in Riyadh from May 14-15. This conference enhances economic relations between the two sides in several promising sectors.
During his speech, he emphasized the strong historical partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He highlighted the opportunity the conference presents for boosting cooperation and mutual investments in 13 key sectors. Additionally, he noted its significance as a forum for sharing valuable experiences and staying updated on the latest sector practices. He further stressed the conference’s role as a significant platform for British companies to engage in the Kingdom’s ongoing transformation.
The Minister of Tourism stressed that the Kingdom’s government is committed to providing exceptional tourism experiences for tourists coming to it by establishing major new projects and tourist destinations worth $800 billion.
He stated that the ambitious initiatives launched by the Kingdom are expected to attract investments worth $3 trillion by 2030, indicating that the integration of the tourism, sports and culture sectors is the cornerstone of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
He said: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s hosting of more than 90 major international sporting events such as Formula 1, the Tennis Cup, World Entertainment Wrestling and Boxing has put it on the global sports map.
The Minister explained that the Saudi cultural sectors play a fundamental role in the development of the Kingdom, pointing to the importance of strengthening cultural cooperation between the Kingdom and Britain.
In his speech, he reviewed the successes achieved by the tourism sector during the current period, noting that the Kingdom has achieved an exceptional achievement in the tourism sector- receiving 100 million tourists in 2023 – seven years ahead of the specified date.
Promoting Saudi-British Tourism Cooperation
The Ministry of Tourism is eager to train and empower Saudi nationals in the tourism sector through programs like “Tourism Pioneers.” Over 240 thousand Saudi men and women work in tourism, and over 2,600 Saudi students have trained in the UK.
Al-Khateeb said: “The “Investment Enablers in the Tourism Sector” program occupies a pivotal position in the goals of attracting investments, and the Ministry aims to reduce government fees further in the future.”
He explained that the Kingdom received more than 165,600 British tourists this year, and more than 560,462 electronic visas were issued to British tourists since 2019. This indicates that there is a clear need to increase communication and expand the number of British hotel operators in the Kingdom.
The GREAT Futures Initiative conference is chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, as part of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council.
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