UN Tourism chief hails Kingdom’s ‘impressive’ growth in sector

RIYADH: The head of the UN agency that promotes responsible and sustainable tourism has described as “impressive” Saudi Arabia’s achievements in the sector.
In an interview with Arab News, Natalia Bayona, executive director of UN Tourism, highlighted the huge growth in visitors to the Kingdom.
“We are really optimistic about everything we have seen in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia. It’s impressive,” she said.
“There has been a 64 percent growth in tourism arrivals, increasing from 16 million in 2022 to 27 million in 2023. Additionally, tourism expenditure grew significantly, by 43.7 percent, reaching SR141 billion ($37.6 billion).
“It’s incredible how Saudi Arabia has been booming when it comes to the human economic sector.”
Investing first in people and secondly in infrastructure were the keys to success, she said.
Under Vision 2030 — the government’s initiative to boost economic, cultural and social diversity — the Ministry of Tourism has set goals to reach 150 tourist visits, strengthen Islamic and national identity and create 1.6 million jobs.
Earlier this year, the Saudi Press Agency reported that the Kingdom welcomed 77 million domestic and 27 million international visitors in 2023. The milestone was applauded by UN Tourism.
The agency has collaborated with Saudi Arabia on a number of projects designed to boost the Kingdom’s tourism infrastructure. These include the Riyadh School for Tourism and Hospitality, which opened last year on UN World Tourism Day.
“Investing in vocational tourism to bring prospective professionals to Spain, Paris, the UK and Switzerland to be trained and return with a strong diploma is incredible,” Bayona said.
“From 2018 to 2023, 22 out of 40 foreign direct investment-funded projects in Saudi Arabia focused on accommodation, mainly in hotels, and a strong interest in personal hospitality.”
According to the IATA Air Connectivity Index, “Saudi Arabia has advanced from 27th place in 2019 to 13th in 2023,” Bayona said.
“That’s the result of the commitment and the civil aviation strategy aimed at making the Kingdom a top Middle East hub that can connect different continents to present investment opportunities and bring not only tourism but also cargo and trade.”
To maintain that upward momentum, “we need to empower our jobs more, together with the ministry and the entire ecosystem,” Bayona said.
She was also positive about the Kingdom’s bids to host the World Expo and soccer World Cup.
“The whole team has been doing an amazing job with the World Expo 2030 and the FIFA World Cup,” she said.
“Those are big names and the most powerful events in the world, alongside the Olympics. So why is this important? Because, of course, it’s a unique opportunity to promote cultural heritage and history and to engage the Saudi people with international visitors.”