Tourism in the Kingdom in 2021 achieved great developments at the local and international levels with great support from the wise leadership and in accordance with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in diversifying the national economy and creating job opportunities, as the Council of Ministers headed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques approved the tourism community initiative and established the initiative’s trust fund with the Bank International and the World Tourism Organization. The Council of Ministers, headed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, approved the organizational arrangements for the Saudi Authority for the Red Sea and the establishment of the “General Corporation for the Preservation of Coral Reefs and Turtles in the Red Sea” and the issuance of the royal order to establish an authority for the development of Yanbu, Umluj, Al Wajh and Duba, reflecting the importance of the Red Sea coast in Tourism development in the Kingdom.
In order to achieve the great support for tourism development in the Kingdom, the Crown Prince affirmed in launching the National Investment Strategy that the next phase of the strategy will include the development of detailed investment plans for sectors, including the tourism sector. And with unlimited support to achieve the aspirations of Vision 2030, the Crown Prince announced many projects that contribute significantly to the tourism sector, including the announcement of His Highness the launch of the design vision “A Journey Through Time” within the Al-Ula development program, and the launch of Coral Bloom designs for the main island in the Red Sea project, followed by His Highness’s announcement About Al-Soudah Development Company as one of the Public Investment Fund companies with investments exceeding 11 billion riyals, in addition to His Highness launching a strategy to develop the Asir region with the aim of turning it into a global tourist destination throughout the year and attracting 10 million visitors by 2030. Finally, His Highness launched the master plan and the main features of the “Wasat” project. Jeddah »to develop a global destination in the heart of Jeddah with investments estimated at 75 billion riyals in 2030. Internationally In 2021, the Crown Prince announced in his speech at the opening of the Saudi Green Initiative Forum the launch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the global center for sustainable tourism. In the same year, the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization was opened for the Middle East region in Riyadh, and the Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khatib, announced in the meeting of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization that the Kingdom would win the seat of the first vice-president in the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization, and Riyadh would host the meeting of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization next May. In addition to choosing the Kingdom to celebrate World Tourism Day in 2023; With the ratification of the launch of the organization's regional office in the Kingdom and the same year 2021, the World Tourism Organization recognized the village of Rijal Alma'a as one of the best tourism powers in the world. In the same year, the Kingdom achieved fourth place in the Arab world in terms of the number of world heritage sites and cultural heritage elements registered for it in UNESCO, with 6 registered world heritage sites and 8 registered elements of intangible cultural heritage. Confirming the Kingdom's global contribution to the tourism sector, the minister announced the Kingdom's selection to host the World Travel Council Summit in 2022; The Kingdom hosted the Tourism Recovery Summit in 2021 to intensify international efforts to meet the challenges that will contribute to the recovery of the tourism sector through innovation and sustainability, with the aim of building a better future for tourists, workers in the tourism sector and local communities. In 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was a sponsor of the first global exhibition for the tourism and travel market after the Corona pandemic, which is one of the most important exhibitions for the tourism sector at the global level. Locally, in 2021, the Ministry of Tourism launched the Your Future Tourism campaign, with the aim of providing 100,000 diverse job opportunities in the tourism sector by the end of 2021, and announced the Tourism Pioneers Camp to help those with distinctive ideas to turn them into a pioneering project in the tourism sector, in addition to the Ministry announcing an accelerator Tourism business to support the owners of tourism establishments and their continuity in the tourism sector. The Kingdom started receiving tourists on August 1 after the pandemic, and the media followed it up about the return of the Saudi Seasons in its new version, with seasons for two years, with the aim of encouraging investment in all the different regions of the Kingdom. And the Saudi Tourism Authority had launched the Cram program to create inspiring tourism experiences in the Kingdom, in addition to launching the Saudi Summer Program 2021 with the slogan “Our Summer on Jock” in 11 tourist destinations, by providing more than 500 experiences and tourism packages with more than 250 partners from the private sector. This was followed by the launch of the promotional campaign to attract tourists from the Gulf and the region with the slogan “Hayyakum at low costs.” In 2021, the Public Investment Fund launched the “Saudi Cruise” company in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast, to form a strategic bridge between sea and land operations and the operations of tourist ports to be developed. In Saudi Arabia, to ensure the provision of an integrated tourism experience in line with the objectives of the tourism sector in the Kingdom, and to announce the launch of the new “THE RIG” project in the tourism sector as one of the projects of the Public Investment Fund. Among the announcement of the achievements of the tourism sector in the citizen’s version of the 2022 budget were important achievements, including the launch of the “e-tourism education” platform, with the registration of more than 226 thousand, the training of more than 111 thousand workers and those wishing to work in the tourism sectors during the year 2021, and the preparation of a road map to raise the readiness of 9 destinations. tourism and 42 targeted sites. The achievements also included launching a platform to register tourism programs that are implemented by tour operators and obtaining approvals from the relevant government agencies to organize the process of approving tourism programs and obtaining approvals, in addition to developing 15 investment opportunities to develop investment in tourist destinations with the private sector.
Thamer Al-Harbi is a lecturer and director of public relations and media at the Faculty of Tourism – King Abdulaziz University
