The inaugural Tourise Summit launched last night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a vision to revolutionize the travel landscape. Drawing nearly 8,000 delegates from various sectors, the summit features over 140 speakers who will contribute to discussions spanning three days. This unique gathering aims to bring together governments, businesses, investors, and innovators to collaboratively redefine the trillion-dollar global tourism industry.
Notably, the Tourise Summit follows closely on the heels of the 50th United Nations Tourism General Assembly, indicating an aligned urgency in addressing key challenges facing the tourism sector. In his keynote address, Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia and Chair of TOURISE, articulated the event’s goal of transforming innovative ideas into actionable solutions, intended to shape the future of global tourism over the next fifty years.
Despite a backdrop of global uncertainties, Al Khateeb expressed confidence in the summit’s potential to foster decisive interactions that could lead to effective strategies for the evolving landscape of travel and tourism. He highlighted that in the previous year alone, 1.5 billion people traveled globally, with significant contributions from nations like Fiji, which attracted about one million tourists, showcasing the sector’s importance to economies worldwide.
Al Khateeb presented findings from recent reports published by TOURISE, which revealed 357 million people currently employed in the tourism sector. This number is projected to increase by an additional 90 million jobs by 2034, although the report also cautioned that there may be 40 million job vacancies by that time. The Minister emphasized the discussions held during the UN General Assembly, which centered on strategies to fill these impending labor gaps.
During the summit, participants, particularly from the private sector, are encouraged to engage in collaborative dialogue to address these challenges. The proactive approach undertaken at the Tourise Summit, mirroring similar sentiments expressed at previous events such as the Fiji Tourism Exchange, accentuates a collective commitment to sustainability and community empowerment in tourism.
In a world increasingly aware of sustainability, the focus on inclusive strategies and industry resilience resonates well beyond the summit, providing a hopeful outlook for a tourism landscape that adapts to meet future demands. By harnessing collaborations among diverse stakeholders, the tourism sector can not only recover from past challenges but thrive with renewed vigor going forward.
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