The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on donor countries to participate in financing the first international fund dedicated to supporting the tourism sector.
This came in the speech of His Excellency the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, yesterday at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, indicating that the Corona pandemic has strengthened the importance of the tourism sector as a main driver in advancing the wheel of growth and recovery.
His Excellency said: "The Kingdom's government pledge to provide $100 million to establish the Tourism Support Fund, in cooperation with the World Bank, contributes to supporting communities affected by the pandemic in helping them to overcome the devastating impact of the Corona pandemic and other global crises," noting that the entire international community He has the task of accelerating recovery and achieving the necessary resilience.
He stressed that international cooperation is indispensable in order to achieve the desired economic growth, calling on donor countries and the private sector to contribute to building the trust fund, noting the efforts made by the Kingdom for the tourism sector, which is one of the pillars of the global economy.
His Excellency the Minister of Tourism discussed the successful pioneering experience achieved by the Kingdom in terms of accelerating the tourism sector and attracting tourists from inside and outside the Kingdom, in addition to the Kingdom's initiatives and its role in promoting the future of sustainable tourism.
It is noteworthy that the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group, in which ministers, government officials, and representatives of civil society participated, and the meetings discussed how to build a greener and more inclusive future for disadvantaged communities in the tourism sector, and the impact of global crises such as the Corona pandemic in addition to climate change on societies, and the participants agreed on the importance of Achieving a rapid recovery to support the most affected groups.
The Kingdom’s support for the Trust Fund bears witness to the Kingdom’s track record in supporting initiatives aimed at developing the tourism sector locally and internationally and advancing economic recovery. In 2020, the World Tourism Organization and the Tourism Working Group of the Group of Twenty launched the “Al-Ula Framework for Comprehensive Community Development”, followed by the announcement of the leaders of the Group of Twenty Summit The 20th in Riyadh for the year 2020, represented by the establishment of a sustainable and comprehensive tourism program.
In 2021, the Kingdom contributed to the launch of the Global Center for Sustainable Tourism, a multilateral alliance that aims to reduce the tourism sector’s contribution to carbon emissions around the world, as the sector accounts for 8% of these emissions. This alliance, which includes several countries and stakeholders from the public sector, international organizations and academia, will work Financing and sectoral institutions to lead, accelerate and track the transformation of the tourism sector to net-zero emissions, as well as support international efforts to protect nature and communities. The Center has appointed eight international experts in the field of sustainable tourism as its representatives.
In May 2021, the Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank and the World Tourism Organization to activate the "Tourism Community Initiative", which aims to promote sustainable tourism, inclusive growth, provide job opportunities, and preserve the natural heritage in developing countries.
The Kingdom is working to enhance its tourism environment and contribute to achieving the objectives of the national tourism development strategy, which aims by 2030 to receive 100 million visits annually from inside and outside the Kingdom, and to increase the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product to 10% while providing one million new job opportunities.