The Tourism Development Fund and Riyadh Bank launched the "Tourism Partners" program, the first program of its kind in which the public and private sectors participate, according to specific performance indicators on both sides, with the aim of enabling the development of quality tourism facilities and activities at the level of the Kingdom with a financing value of up to 2 billion riyals to support project financing. Tourism is to be worked on during the year 2021.

This program comes in line with the Kingdom’s drive to consolidate partnerships between the government sector and the private sector through the “Shrek” initiative launched by His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, by opening the space for the base Wider than private enterprises, including small, medium and large enterprises, to seize the opportunities resulting from the Kingdom's economic development through the promising tourism sector.

The "Tourism Partners" program includes three financing options that serve private sector establishments of various sizes, the value of which ranges from 1 million riyals to financing specific projects of more than 100 million riyals, where the financing varies between direct financing from the fund and joint financing with private banks, including Riyad Bank, in addition to providing guarantees on credit facilities by up to 90%, which enhances investor appetite for tourism projects and reduces investment obstacles in the sector.

The CEO of the Tourism Development Fund, Qusay Al-Fakhry, indicated that the program coincides with the passage of five years since the launch of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and coincides with the announcement of His Highness the Crown Prince of the program to strengthen partnership with the private sector (partner), which aims to support local companies and enable them to reach the volume of local investments. Reaching five trillion riyals by the end of 2030 will increase the private sector’s contribution to the GDP and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, explaining that the “Tourism Partners” program is the first program in the sector for which specific performance indicators have been set on the fund and Riyad Bank that contributes to increasing the sector’s contribution. Tourism in the domestic product and the creation of new jobs.

He indicated that the "Tourism Partners" program aims to provide financing operations in the form of loans or guarantees to enable the development of projects in 7 tourist destinations among the destinations identified by the National Tourism Strategy in Riyadh, Al-Jouf, Hail, Dammam and Khobar, Al-Ahsa, Jeddah, Medina and Taif. Al-Baha, Asir, and Al-Ula.

The CEO of the Fund confirmed that the program aims to finance 36 housing projects, including hotels, resorts, hotel apartments and rural lodges, in addition to 46 projects to serve modern life, including shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, entertainment and commercial complexes and promotional events, in addition to financing 31 projects in the field of tourist experiences and adventures. .

He explained that the fund’s primary role as an investor partner in the tourism sector is to find financing solutions to overcome obstacles that may prevent investors from entering into remunerative tourism projects, noting that the financing options within the program allow investors to finance assets, working capital, supply chains, salaries and bills.

It is noteworthy that the Tourism Development Fund is a fundamental engine for the tourism renaissance in the Kingdom and seeks to be a global model for government initiatives for tourism development by providing easy financing to investors, taking advantage of effective partnerships with lenders in the public and private sectors, in a way that serves the Kingdom's vision to raise the contribution of the tourism sector to more than 10% Of GDP and the generation of one million jobs by 2030.