The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has called on donor countries to participate in financing the first international fund dedicated to supporting the tourism sector. This came in the speech of the Minister of Tourism, Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, yesterday at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, indicating that the Corona pandemic has strengthened the importance of the tourism sector as a main driver in advancing the wheel of growth and recovery. He said, "The Kingdom's government pledge to provide $100 million to establish the Tourism Support Fund, in cooperation with the World Bank, contributes to supporting communities affected by the pandemic in helping them to overcome the devastating impact of the Corona pandemic and other global crises," noting that the entire international community shall have the task of accelerating recovery and achieving the necessary resilience. He stressed that international cooperation is indispensable in order to achieve the desired economic growth, calling on donor countries and the private sector to contribute to building the trust fund, pointing to the efforts made by the Kingdom for the tourism sector, which is one of the pillars of the global economy. The Minister of Tourism reviewed the successful pioneering experience achieved by the Kingdom in terms of accelerating the tourism sector and attracting tourists from inside and outside the Kingdom, in addition to the Kingdom's initiatives and its role in promoting the future of sustainable tourism. It is noteworthy that the Kingdom is working to enhance its tourism environment and contribute to achieving the objectives of the national tourism development strategy, which aims by 2030 to receive 100 million visits annually from inside and outside the Kingdom, and to increase the sector's contribution to the gross domestic product to 10% while providing one million new job opportunities.
