Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, called on hospitality operators, workers and investors to keep pace with the rapid development that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia witnesses nowadays, as the tourism sector in particular, and the Saudi economy in general, is recording unprecedented growth. This came during the monthly meeting of the Minister of Tourism with hospitality operators and investors in the Kingdom, held virtually with more than 100 owners and investors in the Saudi hospitality sector from various parts of the Kingdom, in the presence of Princess Haifa bint Mohammed, Deputy Minister of Tourism and a number of senior officials in the ministry. At the outset of the meeting, Al-Khateeb affirmed that the Ministry of Tourism and the tourism sector system strive for the new tourism regulation to keep pace with the tourism renaissance taking place in the Kingdom, support innovation, and business sectors in the country, stressing the Ministry's keenness to attract investments in the tourism sector. He said, "The launch of the new tourism regulation came to document the aspirations of the wise leadership and to attract investments in it as one of the pillars of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, as the leadership is looking forward to diversifying the national economy, strengthening its non-oil economy, as well as attracting 100 million visitors annually by 2030. He added, "We have been working on developing and enriching the tourism regulation in the Kingdom to culminate in a series of legislations and regulations issued over the past three years, with the aim of achieving the targets of the national strategy for tourism, upgrading and promoting the sector and its attractiveness based on the best practices that were selected based on the index of the top twenty countries in the competitiveness of travel and tourism issued by the World Economic Forum. The Minister of Tourism stressed the importance of localizing the tourism sector and enhancing the role of citizens in its growth and prosperity, pointing out that the ministry has allocated 400 million riyals to train and qualify 100,000 citizens to work in the local tourism sector, including 10,000 young men and women who are currently training outside the Kingdom in a number of the most prestigious institutions of hotel and tourism education worldwide. He pointed out that the ministry has so far completed the training of 80,000 Saudi young men and women, and they are now ready to work in the sector, and it is still going to complete the target number, indicating that the ministry is currently moving towards adopting various technological techniques to enhance communication with various categories of beneficiaries, especially hospitality operators and the investors. The Minister Al-Khateeb also stressed that the ministry will not hesitate to protect investments and the rights of operators of hospitality facilities, take care of them, and harness all capabilities that ensure their growth and prosperity. He confirmed that the Ministry has adopted flexibility with regard to the requirements in the regions of Makkah and Madinah, including the allowing of the size of the hospitality units to differ from the standard specifications by no more than 30% of the size specified for a number of no more than 20% of the total hotel units, and allowing a 10% discrepancy rate in changing toilet spaces, exempting a 4-star rating from a fitness room, and other exemptions that support hospitality facilities in the two holy capitals. In response to inquiries regarding inspections of hospitality facilities, Al-Khateeb affirmed that the Ministry attaches great importance to this aspect in order to raise the sector to the best international standards adopted in the field of tourism, citing the need of the owners and investors of hospitality facilities to adjust their conditions during the next three months, expressing that he and the entire ministerial team aspired that the sector be one of the most successful economic sectors in the Kingdom.
