00:00Your Excellency, Mr. Al-Khatib, what a pleasure for joining us here in Davos on Euronews.
00:14Thank you for being with us today.
00:17Saudi Arabia's tourism journey has been one of the most dynamic globally.
00:22You know, what is the core vision of tourism within Saudi Vision 2030?
00:27And how is the Ministry of Tourism leading this transformation?
00:31First of all, thank you very much for having me.
00:33When we launched Vision 2030 back in 2016, tourism was one of the main vision pillars to ensure an economy diversification and a job creation.
00:47As you know, tourism is one of the most effective sector at a global level that creates jobs.
00:54Tourism represents about 10% of the global GDP and about 10% of the global jobs or 357 million people work in this sector at a global level.
01:04We started in Saudi Arabia with the vision that we need to take the 3% contribution to Saudi economy from tourism and about 3% contribution to jobs to 10% by 2030 through using our very advanced infrastructure
01:23and adding to our existing infrastructure like the new King Salman Airport in Riyadh and other airports that we have already launched.
01:32And some new destinations like the Red Sea and the Gdia, where they launched two weeks ago the largest Six Flags theme parks.
01:44And this is one of 70 theme parks to be launched in the next 10 years, in addition to Gdia and other private sector investments.
01:53We in tourism are responsible of enhancing and improving the contribution of the tourism sector to the Saudi economy and to create jobs.
02:08And this is going to help the economy and will make the economy more resilient, more diversified.
02:16This year's World Economic Forum's theme is a spirit of dialogue, you know, with leaders convening to tackle global fragmentation and fostering cooperation.
02:24So how does Saudi Arabia's tourism strategy reflect this spirit, particularly because tourism, it connects people, cultures, economies?
02:34Yeah, tourism is a symbol of connecting nations.
02:38When you travel to any destination, you meet people, you learn about their culture and you enjoy their culture.
02:46And therefore, during Davos, we are meeting with different officials and private sector to continue the dialogue
02:59and make sure that tourism will continue to prosper and grow at a global level.
03:06When tourism grows, economies prosper and jobs will be created.
03:13And mainly the jobs created by tourism is jobs that is equipped by women and youth.
03:24And therefore, tourism is a main driver of dialogue.
03:30It creates bridges between nations and it gives the chance to different nations and countries to share their beautiful culture and history with others.
03:44For you, what are the cornerstone elements of Saudi tourism strategy that make the kingdom such a compelling destination for global travellers?
03:55When we promote Saudi Arabia, we said, welcome to Arabia.
03:59You know, when you go to the east, you learn about the eastern culture.
04:03And when you go to the west, you learn about the western culture.
04:06And when you come to the Arabia, the Arabian countries, you learn about the Arabian culture, which is a welcoming culture.
04:14Our guests are served by our young Saudis.
04:17It gives our people the chance to share our hospitality, our warm hospitality in this very cold weather.
04:26And therefore, you know, in Saudi Arabia, tourism is the main pillar of 2030 vision.
04:37It will help to diversify our economy.
04:39It will help to create jobs.
04:42Forty-five percent of the jobs in travel and tourism at a global level are served by women.
04:49In Saudi Arabia, 47 percent are young women working on the travel and tourism sector.
04:56And therefore, tourism is very important.
04:59It is very important for the country.
05:01It gives others the chance to come and experience the beauty of the Red Sea, the beauty of Al-Ola and the Riyadh, the capital, Riyadh and Jeddah and so on and so forth.
05:13You mentioned there the culture and some of the real cultural hotspots that people can come and visit in Saudi Arabia.
05:18How are you ensuring that high-quality visitor experience while balancing cultural preservation as well as sustainability?
05:28Yeah, this is a very important question because in the past, the ecosystem of the travel and tourism is not well connected.
05:36You might find a poor experience when you fly, for we ensure in Saudi Arabia that when you apply for a visa, you get the best experience.
05:47When you fly, you get a good experience.
05:50And when you arrive at the airport, you get the best experience.
05:54For we cover the whole journey.
05:55When you stay in a hotel or an accommodation, you get an amazing experience.
06:00And when you shop and dine and entertain, you also enjoy the experience.
06:05Therefore, we look at the whole visitor journey and make sure that this journey offers the best experience.
06:14During TourEyes, the biggest travel and tourism conference that we launched last year, we focused on the whole ecosystem.
06:24Tourism is a cross-cutting industry.
06:28We brought everybody together in one place to discuss the future of travel and tourism.
06:34We brought the airline's manufacturer.
06:37You know, it is very difficult today to get a new airplane.
06:41The backlog is so long.
06:42And at the same time, cities are expanding airport and adding more rooms.
06:48We have to make sure that they talk to each other and they coordinate in order to bring about the best experience to the future travelers.
06:56What opportunities do you see for global investors in the tourism sector and the tourism ecosystem over the next decade in Saudi?
07:05Oh, in the whole ecosystem, you know, and whether airport operators, hotel operators.
07:11Today, we signed to add 150,000 new key rooms to the 550,000 key rooms we have today in Saudi Arabia.
07:22And therefore, we used to have one for season for many decades.
07:25We have 11 for seasons under construction today.
07:29And therefore, many investors are coming, whether in the hotels or in the airports or airlines and so on and so forth.
07:37And therefore, I invite, I encourage investors to come and join this sector, which is a very high-growing sector.
07:47We grow at about 7% to 8% every year for the last five years.
07:54Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing economy among all the G20 in the travel and tourism sector based on the United Nations Tourism Agency.
08:06There are a lot of opportunity in the whole ecosystem.
08:10Many investors have already come and signed for the opportunities.
08:14But we definitely need to, you know, I'm inviting and we need more investors to come and join this journey.
08:24You mentioned there on the G20 and how well you're doing.
08:26You know, what is the biggest challenge for you?
08:28You know, you say we still need more investment.
08:30What is the number one challenge moving forwards?
08:33The challenge in order to create a very successful and robust industry,
08:40an industry, an industry, you need enablers.
08:45Our manpower, young people are the biggest challenge.
08:49We need to train them.
08:50We need to scale them.
08:51We need to make sure that they join the big investment that undergoing in order to really share the experience.
09:00I want our sector to be operated by the young Saudis for you and for any other, you know, foreign visitor when they come for sport, for example,
09:14to attend the, you know, final super Spanish or for the boxing or any sport activities or for conferences like the Davos Spring or WEF Spring or the FII or Tourize or any other conference
09:32to be served by the young Saudi for them to share with our visitors.
09:38Yeah, to be part of it and to share our hospitality.
09:41What lasting legacy do you hope that Saudi can bring to the world stage over the next 10 years?
09:48A beautiful experience.
09:50We really want whenever anyone come and visit Saudi Arabia for any reason to enjoy our safety and security.
09:58Saudi Arabia is very safe and secure and to enjoy the experience and leave Saudi Arabia with the great memories and come back again and again.
10:07Your Excellency Ahmed Al-Khatib, what a pleasure to see you here in Davos once again.
10:11Thank you for joining us on Euronews.
10:13Thank you for having me.
10:14You're welcome.
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