RIYADH: The second day of the 116th Executive Council of the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization took placen in Jeddah, with delegates continuing to discuss lessons learned from the global pandemic.
More than 180 participants from across the world attended, and Zurab Pololikashvili Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization said the first day left him “full of hope” for the future of the industry.
Day two was centered around a thematic session named ‘Tourism Futures — New Governance’.
Read More: ‘Our ambition is enormous’ — UN World Tourism council kicks off two-day event in Saudi Arabia
NFTs for all
Digital Transformation General Manager at the Ministry of Tourism Aljohara Al-Saleem
The Ministry of Tourism in Saudi Arabia will give each delegate at the event personalized non-fungible tokens.
Digital Transformation General Manager at the Ministry of Tourism Aljohara Al-Saleem told Arab News that inside the giveaways, each delegate would receive a gift box containing a physical ledger that they can use as a wallet and a key to access their NFTs.
“Each one is personalized. There is a hidden gem of the regions, and the cities of the Kingdom placed in each of these NFTs,” she said.
International investors keen on Saudi tourism
Mahmoud Abdulhadi, deputy minister for investment attraction, Ministry of Tourism speaking to Arab News (AN)
The future tourism sector in Saudi Arabia will be a blend of domestic and international investments, as the country aims to be among the top five global tourism destinations by the end of this decade, according to Mahmoud Abdulhadi, deputy minister for investment attraction, Ministry of Tourism.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Abdulhadi revealed that people are conservative regarding cross-border investments in the aftermath of the pandemic.
He, however, clarified that the Kingdom is emerging as a destination that attracts foreign investments.
“Post pandemic, people are a little bit more conservative internationally in terms of cross-border investment. But we are proving to be a destination attracting quite a decent amount of interest. And now we’re working on converting that interest into actual investments,” Abdulhadi told Arab News.
