The Minister of Tourism reviewed many achievements in the national tourism system and the qualitative leaps achieved by the Kingdom in the field of tourism, which achieved record numbers during the past years and the numbers it reached during the first half of 2024.
The following are the most important points of the government press conference held by the Government Communication Center in the Al Abu Sarah Heritage Palaces in Al Azizah Village, west of Abha City in the Asir Region:
– Allocating 10,000 training opportunities inside and outside the Kingdom for workers in the tourism sector in the Asir region.
The ambitions of the National Tourism Strategy are to reach more than 150 million local and international tourists by 2030, which was achieved last year by reaching 109 million local and international tourists, which will enhance raising the contribution of tourism to the gross domestic product to 10% by 2030.
– Increase employment rates from approximately 650,000 jobs in 2019 to 1.6 million jobs by 2030.
The Tourism Development Fund plays an important role in providing financing for a number of distinguished tourism projects, as the Fund has contributed more than 7.4 billion riyals to enable more than 100 tourism projects in various regions of the Kingdom, with a value exceeding 35 billion riyals, providing more than 7,500 hotel rooms and suites in tourist destinations.
– The Tourism Development Fund in Asir region has launched 10 major projects, ranging from international hotels to multi-use projects, with a value exceeding one billion riyals, and including international hotel brands such as InterContinental Residence in Abha, DoubleTree in Khamis Mushait Governorate, and Khayal Walk Boulevard.
The Kingdom has allocated an exceptional budget to train and qualify Saudi men and women inside and outside the Kingdom in cooperation with leading tourism education and training institutions in Switzerland, Britain and Spain, so that national cadres are the ones who provide tourism services. The Ministry has targeted training 500,000 young Saudi men and women since 2019.
– Training more than 100,000 young men and women through a number of training programs during the past year 2023, most notably the “Tourism Pioneers 2” program. In addition, approximately 1,500 young men and women received training outside the Kingdom during the past year in the most prestigious international universities and institutes.
The number of jobs in the tourism sector in the Kingdom exceeded 925,000 jobs during the year 2023, and the localization rate in the tourism sector reached 26% during the past year 2023, while the localization rate in the hospitality sector reached 38% during the past year 2023, and the localization rate in travel agencies reached 36% during the past year 2023, and the number of those enrolled in the tourism sector reached 380,000 enrolled during the past year 2023.
The percentage of Saudi women working in the tourism sector reached 46% during the past year 2023.
The number of local and incoming tourists who visited the Asir region during the year 2023 exceeded 8 million tourists, with a growth rate of 2.2% compared to the year 2022.
– The total number of local and incoming tourists, which reached 109 million tourists during the year 2023, with a growth rate of 16% compared to the year 2022, with the number of tourists and arrivals to the Kingdom from abroad during the past year exceeding 27 million tourists, led by entertainment and holiday purposes with a growth rate of 153% compared to the year 2022, in addition to the total tourism spending for incoming and local tourism exceeding 255 billion riyals, with a growth rate of 24% for the year 2023 compared to the year 2022.
Total spending on domestic tourism during the year 2023 amounted to more than 114 billion riyals, with a growth rate of nearly 7% compared to the year 2022, while total spending on inbound tourism during the year 2023 amounted to more than 141 billion riyals, with a growth rate of nearly 44% compared to the year 2022.
Source: SPA
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2024-07-18 17:09:37
