Saudi Arabia Announces Major $11.2 Billion Tourism Investment Drive, Eyes 120,000 New Jobs
Saudi Arabia is looking to create 120,000 tourism jobs and attract $11.2bn of investment to the Kingdom’s hospitality sector with a major new initiative.
Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Aqeel Al Khateeb has unveiled the Tourism Investment Enablers Programme, designed to facilitate business practices and enhance investment attractiveness for both local and international investors.
As part of its ambitious programme, the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment, announced the Hospitality Sector Investment Enablers Initiative.
Saudi tourism investments
This initiative aims to increase and diversify tourism offerings, bolstering the capacity of hospitality facilities in targeted tourist destinations across the Kingdom.
The initiative aims to attract investments in the hospitality sector, with a value of approximately SR42bn ($11.2bn), projecting estimated revenues of about SR16bn ($4.3bn) to the Kingdom’s GDP by 2030.
Al Khateeb said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia boasts rich and diverse tourism wealth, making its tourism industry globally attractive.
“Saudi Vision 2030 outlines our roadmap to becoming a sought-after global destination, recognising the tourism sector as a key driver of the national economy.”
He added: “We witnessed a 390 percent increase in demand for tourism activity licences 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.”
The initiative encompasses strategically prepared enablers to improve the cost and ease of doing business.
These include facilitating access to government lands under favourable conditions, streamlining project development processes, finding solutions to investor challenges, developing laws to reduce operational costs, and fostering tourism industry growth.
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 nationalisation efforts in the local job market.
