Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb has unveiled on Monday the Tourism Investment Enablers Program, which is designed to facilitate business practices and enhance investment attractiveness for both local and international investors as part of the ministry’s bid to make the Kingdom a global tourism hub.

As part of its ambitious program, the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment, announced the Hospitality Sector Investment Enablers Initiative. The initiative is anticipated to yield numerous social and economic benefits, including an increase in the number of hotel rooms by approximately 42,000, creating around 120,000 job opportunities in targeted destinations by 2030. This will positively impact talent development and support nationalization efforts in the local job market.

The initiative aims to attract investments in the hospitality sector, with a value of approximately SR42 billion, projecting estimated revenues of about SR16 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP by 2030. It also aims to increase and diversify tourism offerings, bolstering the capacity of hospitality facilities in targeted tourist destinations across the Kingdom.

Al-Khateeb said that Saudi Arabia boasts rich and diverse tourism wealth, making its tourism industry globally attractive. “The Saudi Vision 2030 outlines our roadmap to becoming a sought-after global destination, recognizing the tourism sector as a key driver of the national economy. We witnessed a 390 percent increase in demand for tourism activity licenses last year, marking the beginning of the Kingdom’s significant investment in the tourism sector over the next decade, providing opportunities and a conducive investment environment for both local and international investors,” he said.

The initiative encompasses strategically prepared enablers to improve the cost and ease of doing business. These include facilitating access to government lands under favorable conditions, streamlining project development processes, finding solutions to investor challenges, and developing laws to reduce operational costs, fostering tourism industry growth, the Saudi Press Agency reported.