RIYADH - Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib launched today, Tuesday, Jumada Al-Thani 29 1443 AH, corresponding to February 01, 2022 AD, as part of the global and pioneering technology "LEAP" event, the digital tourism strategy in the Kingdom, as part of the ministry's efforts and plans to develop the local tourism sector.

He revealed that the digital tourism strategy will help enrich the efforts to rebuild the tourism sector in the Kingdom, in order to achieve the goals of "Kingdom's Vision 2030", which works to place the Kingdom among the most important tourist destinations in the world, adding that the Kingdom's experience in implementing this strategy will be inspiring to the global tourism sector.

He stressed the Kingdom's welcome to the creations of smart and innovative minds from all over the world.

Al-Khatib invited innovators in this field to participate in improving the procedures that regulate the digital tourism space, and added: We want travelers and visitors to be sure that the tourism sector in the Kingdom operates within smart regulations.

He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to play a leading role and lead efforts in supporting the tourism sector at the local and international levels, in order to provide more job opportunities, achieve prosperity, and attract more tourists and visitors to the Kingdom.

His Excellency praised the unlimited support that the tourism sector receives from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Highness the Crown Prince - may God preserve them.

The strategy had the support of the World Tourism Organization, the World Bank and digital partners such as Microsoft and Cisco.

The Kingdom’s digital strategy includes 9 programs in addition to 31 initiatives that are being implemented for a period of three years and will be completed by 2025. Through these programs and initiatives, a smart work environment will be developed that supports the digital transformation journey in the sector, so that the tourism system in the Kingdom benefits from it, and provides A comprehensive platform to meet all needs, with a primary focus on customer satisfaction with regard to the services available.

The Ministry of Tourism will work to achieve this by employing the latest technologies to enhance the effectiveness of decision-making, maximize the value of available data, and provide valuable opportunities for investors.

The implementation of the strategy aims to provide a seamless experience for tourists and stakeholders in a way that supports the prosperity of the tourism sector. The strategy focuses on a number of axes, including, seamless travel: providing digital solutions to simplify travel procedures, ease of doing business: launching a unified platform to link tourism service providers and their applications, and innovation: Creating an interactive environment that allows innovators in the tech sector to experiment with new digital tourism solutions, Digital Travel: Supporting extended reality applications for tourism (such as virtual reality and augmented reality) Encouraging sustainability: Rewarding tourists for environmentally friendly practices, and informed decision-making: Building solutions that allow data collection and availability Analytics for the tourism sector, the professional digital workforce: Creating a generation of tourism professionals and entrepreneurs, and Attracting Investors: Building a network of investors in the tourism sector and engaging them through digital platforms.

The strategy also works on adopting innovative digital business models that would contribute to raising the level of demand for tourism services, and it includes setting innovative regulations to organize smart hotels, adopting flexible methods for digital travel procedures, and providing seamless travel experiences for tourists, businessmen and employees of government agencies. It also includes encouraging Providing new services and establishing startup companies in the tourism sector by utilizing artificial intelligence and data technologies to attract investors, enhance destination readiness, and highlight available investment opportunities.

Within the strategy, work is underway to develop a flexible and effective system that supports the digital transformation journey of the sector, and contributes to adopting a culture of innovation.

In line with this, the Ministry of Tourism will lead the development of a global digital tourism index with the aim of stimulating competition within the sector worldwide.

The strategy was developed in alignment and coordination with the Digital Government Authority and the Digital Transformation Unit, and was reviewed by an advisory board comprising 22 international experts in the fields of digital transformation and tourism.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Tourism succeeded last year in attracting 100,000 Saudis to work in the tourism sector through the "Your Future is Tourism" program.

The ministry is cooperating with the World Tourism Organization to establish an international tourism academy based in Riyadh, which will contribute to training those wishing to work in the tourism sector from different countries of the world.

The ministry has also developed a series of new standards amounting to 31 standards aimed at enhancing the quality of tourism training, as did the digital training platform of the Ministry of Tourism at the beginning of this year, and the number of registered exceeded 226,000 trainees, allowing them to apply for training programs to develop skills and work efficiency, which benefited more than From 110,000 employees and job seekers.

The Kingdom's tourism system expanded its international presence, winning 28 international awards, and the Saudi Tourism Authority launched 12 offices in seven major global markets.