The Gains of Tourism Organization's Regional Office

In last May, the first regional office of the World Tourism Organization was launched in Riyadh outside the Spanish capital city, Madrid, with the presence of the secretary general of the World Tourism Organization and the kingdom's tourism minister.

The gains received by the kingdom and Riyadh in particular with launching this regional office are based on its central role in coordinating policies and initiatives across 13 countries in the Middle East, supporting tourism products and sustainable development, collecting important statistics for the sector, exchanging information, promoting investment in tourism components, and determining public health regulations.

These gains and tasks which have followed the launch of the regional office of the World Tourism Organization will make Riyadh the vital center and hub to tourism in the Middle East especially in the difficult time, in which the world tourism has been universally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the preventive measures.

The kingdom has confidently taken the responsibility to support the components of this vital sector in a sustainable manner. Thus, the national strategy of tourism aims to raise the contribution of the tourism sector in the domestic product up to 10% by 2030 and provide 100,000 job opportunities in the tourism sector.