Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb received Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hyatt International Tom Pritzker at his office in Riyadh on Thursday.

During the meeting, the minister welcomed Hyatt International’s announcement regarding its expansion in the Kingdom by building new hotels and increasing its hotel capacity from 1,700 rooms to 5,000 rooms over the next five years. Al-Khateeb noted that this plan would contribute to enhancing the Kingdom’s tourism infrastructure.

They also reviewed the opportunities for Hyatt Hotels to contribute to training and employing Saudi personnel in light of the ministry’s continuous efforts to empower Saudis in the tourism sector.

Al-Khateeb noted that the ministry’s endeavors to attract distinguished international hotels, such as Hyatt Hotels, come within the Kingdom’s commitment to developing the tourism sector to provide world-class services. “The ministry aims to increase the number of hotel rooms to more than 550,000 by 2030 to achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 that seeks to attract 150 million tourists by 2030 and increase tourist sector’s contribution to the GDP by 10 percent amidst the prosperity and development witnessed by the tourism sector in the Kingdom,” he said.

Pritzker praised the Kingdom’s infrastructure development in the tourism sector, noting that the excellent facilities provided by Saudi Arabia to investors encouraged the company to expand in various tourist destinations in the country.