RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s government is collaborating with the private sector to double tourism investments in the coming years and creating a sustainable and growing environment, according to a top government official.
Speaking at the Future Hospitality Summit currently being held in Riyadh, Deputy Minister of Investment Attraction Mahmoud Abdulhadi said the Kingdom’s leadership is striving to present investors with the appropriate tools to boost funds into the sector.
“Our role today in the concept of a public-private partnership is to make sure that we are working very closely with the private sector to create a sustainable investable tourism environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said the minister during a panel called “Case Study - Private and Public Sector Collaborate to Accelerate Lifestyle Developments and Promote New Destinations.”
In the coming three to four years, the inflow of investments in the private sector will be more than double what the Kingdom witnessed in the last three to four years, added Abdulhadi.
Additionally, the evident transition from investors looking at single assets to a portfolio is shifting the government’s view of how people perceive the tourism sector.
Whether it is an interest in pure one-time assets, large portfolios, or a market segment, the range of different interests and approaches continues to expand, he added, saying: “One of the beauties of being a nascent sector in an economy such as the Kingdom is that there is no one answer. There are multiple paths to get to what is ultimately our target.”
Abdulhadi believes that the previous model of pure corporate hotels is probably falling out of favor and that novel edges are being introduced to keep up with the changing trends.
“The beauty in this is that in the riskier segments, the government either through the PIF (Public Investment Fund) or the other authorities are seeding these sectors by actually creating that demand, creating the product, creating the benchmark,” he added.
In order to become a hub of global tourism, the Kingdom wants to attract 100 million tourists annually by 2030, with a planned investment of $1 trillion in the tourism sector under the National Tourism Strategy.
Major entertainment, heritage and cultural sites, such as Qiddiya, near Riyadh, AlUla in the northwest, and Al-Soudah in the Asir region, have been developed for that purpose.
Travel facilitation steps, including extensive digitization of services, have visibly impacted the number of Hajj and Umrah visitors from across the Muslim world.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, some 120 million local and foreign tourists have visited Saudi Arabia since 2019.
FHS Saudi Arabia is taking place at Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh and is being held under the theme of “Invest in Change,” focusing on the importance of sustainability, innovation, start-ups and human capital development.
