Saudi Arabia will become one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world in the future, the Kingdom’s minister of tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said.
Al-Khateeb said that a total of 65 million domestic tourist visits were recorded last year, contributing to a record spending of SR80 billion ($21.2 billion).
“We are working on tourism products that we will launch soon in Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Tourism has drawn up strategic plans for the development of tourism in the Kingdom, as it worked on a comprehensive survey during which it made optimal use of tourist sites, including the Red Sea Project, which extends over an area of 1,700 kilometres,” he said during a recent address as reported by SPA.
Al-Khateeb also said the Kingdom aims to attract 100 million visitors by 2030, of which 50 percent will be hosted by Riyadh.
“The Tourism Development Fund is ready to finance up to 50 percent of the project value of tourism projects, and the banks will support part of it as well. The ministry focused on developing strategic and governance plans, to raise the percentage of tourism in the Kingdom to 10 percent, which will support the national economy,” he added.
The ministry signed an agreement to build a training headquarters in Riyadh, in its efforts to rehabilitate human resources.
“The ministry had already trained more than 50,000 male and female citizens in the tourism sector, with the aim of reaching one million jobs in the field of tourism, in order to achieve the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”
The minister also said that the Kingdom signed a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines to travel to Zurich and Barcelona as part of the programme.