Tourism Minister: We expect the number of tourists in the ‎Kingdom to increase by 300% by 2030‎

Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, Minister of Tourism, revealed that the Kingdom was able to achieve historical figures in terms of the number of visitors and the volume of spending on tourism, noting that the sector witnessed a significant improvement this year, more than what was expected for it, stating that the World Bank expected global growth to slow. However, the results show that the travel and tourism sector will exceed the expected growth rate, and the number of tourists in the Kingdom is expected to increase by 300% in 2030.

The sixth session of the Future Investment Initiative discussed the recovery of the tourism sector after the Corona virus pandemic, and the most prominent components that the Kingdom possesses and contributes to making it a global tourist destination.

Al-Khatib stressed, in a dialogue session within the Future Investment Initiative conference that the tourism sector managed to recover by 60% compared to 2019, as the demand for travel began to increase, and it was also able to restore 200 million jobs compared to the 60,000 jobs lost by their owners during the pandemic.

Al-Khatib stated that the tourism sector seeks to contribute 10% to the gross domestic product, and to be one of the best tourist destinations around the world, noting the provision of all resources that serve the tourism issue in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030; with the aim of making the Kingdom the best tourist destination.

He said: “We are now in the middle of the road and have achieved many successes and opportunities that will make the Kingdom at the forefront of tourist destinations, and we seek to maximize the benefit by providing the best experience for visitors to the Kingdom, investing in the workforce, and we have announced one million jobs through many programs.” “

He explained that the Kingdom enjoys all the tourism potentials; It has the Red Sea, mountains, culture and cities, and work is underway to make Riyadh the first place for tourism and travel, addressing the issue of establishing a sustainability center that would protect jobs, the environment and social life.