The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hopes to attract investments worth up to 80 billion dollars in tourism as part of its aim to develop tourist attractions and make them among the most appealing to visitors worldwide.
During a press conference in Riyadh, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khatib reaffirmed that the objective is to reach an investment flow of 60 to 80 billion dollars by 2030, emphasising the necessity of collaborating with the private sector to accomplish this goal.
Reasons for Saudi Arabia’s Interest in Tourism:
In anticipation of implementing an economic strategy for the post-oil age that is centred on drawing athletic events and promoting other industries like mineral extraction, the Saudi government is allotting about $800 billion to expand tourism over the next ten years.
The Kingdom also hopes to draw 150 million tourists a year, of which 70 million are foreign visitors from different parts of the globe.
James Reeve, head economist of Jadwa Investment, stated that foreign investments are crucial to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 completion because the kingdom must boost expenditure and quicken the pace of large-scale projects.
Following about 100 million visitors in 2023—who made a substantial contribution to the country’s tourism industry—Saudi Arabia is concentrating on enhancing its infrastructure to draw in leisure travellers.
Saudi Arabia is attempting to boost international tourism by focusing on the middle class in nations like China and India. It is also attempting to draw in more tourists from the UK, France, and Germany, but large travel distances remain a barrier.
Launching a New, Highly Promising Investment Programme
To encourage foreign investment and boost investment in the industry, the Ministry of Tourism also just unveiled a new $11 billion investment programme.
As per a statement released by the Ministry of Tourism, the private sector plans on spending a further $11 billion following the announcement of a new programme that aims to facilitate investments by loosening entry barriers into the Kingdom.
The Ministry commemorated attracting 100 million visits by the end of 2023—seven years ahead of schedule—as a significant accomplishment within Vision 2030.
After surpassing earlier targets last year, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khatib unveiled new plans for the Kingdom, which aim to welcome 150 million tourists by 2030.
Saudi Arabia will be among the top five nations in the world to draw visitors, according to Minister of Tourism Al-Khatib. This shows that the Kingdom is prepared to take proactive steps to draw in investors and lower the cost and increase accessibility of the industry.
Regarding the investment enablers programme in the tourist industry, its goal is to make investments more appealing to foreign and domestic investors by facilitating business.
Saudi Arabia’s investment in the hospitality sector
The Ministry also announced the establishment of the Investment Enablers Initiative, a partnership with the Ministry of Investment in the hospitality sector. The initiative aims to draw in private investments totalling approximately 42 billion riyals ($11 billion), with the expectation that it will boost GDP by about 16 billion riyals ($4 billion) by 2030.
By 2030, the Hospitality Sector Investment Enablers Initiative anticipates creating around 120,000 jobs in the chosen areas and add roughly 42,000 hotel rooms.
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