RIYADH — Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb mentioned Saudi Arabia is in search of to double tourism’s contribution to the financial system, urging the non-public sector to speed up funding because the sector emerges as one of many Kingdom’s fastest-growing engines of jobs and progress.
Talking on the PIF Personal Sector Discussion board on Monday, Al-Khateeb cited world journey figures to underline the dimensions of alternative.
He mentioned the World Tourism Group reported that 1.5 billion folks traveled globally final 12 months, out of a world inhabitants of round 8 billion, including that forecasts level to continued progress over the following 5 years.
In Saudi Arabia, he mentioned tourism presently contributes about 5 p.c of GDP, up from 3.5 p.c in 2019.
“We need to elevate it to 10 p.c,” Al-Khateeb mentioned, including that the sector’s financial contribution is focused to extend from SR300 billion to SR600 billion.
He mentioned the sector’s progress has been accompanied by sturdy job creation, with employment rising from round 750,000 to multiple million jobs.
Tourism, he famous, is among the many world’s high 5 sectors in employment as a result of it’s labor-intensive.
Al-Khateeb mentioned the Kingdom’s tourism transformation started in 2016, as Saudi Arabia intentionally expanded past oil and gasoline, constructing profitable new sectors together with petrochemicals and monetary companies. Tourism was recognized as a pure subsequent pillar, supported by the Kingdom’s non secular, leisure and enterprise journey potential.
He careworn that tourism is essentially a private-sector-led trade.
“In developed international locations, the motive force on this sector is the non-public sector,” he mentioned, noting that traders construct and function lodges, resorts, airports, airways, malls and tourism experiences.
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“Our presence in a discussion board like this is a chance to ask you to develop funding on this sector.”
From 2020 to 2030, Al-Khateeb mentioned dedicated investments in tourism quantity to round SR450 billion, break up evenly between the Public Funding Fund and the non-public sector.
He mentioned PIF initially took on initiatives that had been troublesome for personal traders to undertake alone, corresponding to large-scale Pink Sea developments that required heavy upfront infrastructure spending.
“As we speak, the infrastructure exists,” he mentioned. “I invite the non-public sector to grab these state-of-the-art infrastructure alternatives and begin constructing on high of them lodges, resorts and tourism experiences that guests and residents want.”
He cited current private-sector participation as proof of momentum, together with agreements to construct and function One&Solely and Atlantis resorts on the Jeddah Central vacation spot and the beginning of operations at Rixos in King Abdullah Financial Metropolis.
He mentioned related initiatives throughout the Kingdom have enabled the sector to file its strongest progress by the top of 2025.
Al-Khateeb additionally highlighted the sector’s function in using Saudis, praising younger Saudi women and men working in tourism initiatives, significantly on the Pink Sea vacation spot.
He mentioned the federal government has dedicated round SR300 million to coaching Saudi nationals for the sector, describing service high quality delivered by Saudis as “actually very particular.”
He concluded by reiterating that tourism’s subsequent section is determined by deeper private-sector participation, constructing on the foundations already laid to help sustained progress, job creation and financial diversification.
