With Tourism Restoration for Africa, the Saudi Arabian Tourism Revolution is constant
When Saudi Tourism Minister HE Ahmed Al-Khateeb was seen wearing a Bob Marley hat in Jamaica, a travel and tourism revolution had just begun.
- World tourism needs help and Saudi Arabia is again playing the missing role for the United States of tourism by waving the Saudi flag high and prominently.
- Saudi Arabia is on its way to relocating the UNWTO from Madrid to Riyadh to host the new headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), but it is already hosting the regional office of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and a number other global initiatives.
- Kenya invited delegates to the upcoming summit on the recovery of African tourism in this East African country on Friday. Many of the delegates cannot wait to meet Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al Khateeb, who will be the main shining star of the event.
Kenya’s Minister of Tourism, Najib Balala, is also a global leader and has been involved in many global initiatives, including the eTurboNews-supported World Tourism Network and the African Tourism Board. Along with Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Balala was named a Tourism Hero by WTN last year.
Jamaica Tourism Minister Bartlett has just arrived in Kenya and will speak at the summit, in his capacity as a respected global thought leader, on the resilience and recovery of tourism. He will give his keynote address for the Africa Summit.
During his stay in Kenya, the Minister of Jamaica will sign a letter of intent with the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Center (GTRCMC) satellite at Kenyatta University after a tour on Thursday.
Kenya’s President Kenyatta is serving as Honorary Co-Chair (representing Africa) of the GTRCMC along with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the former President of Malta.
The highlight of Bartlett’s visit to Kenya could of course be the continuation of the investment talks with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, which officially began in June when the first bilateral conference between Jamaica and Saudi Arabia focused on foreign investment to promote economic growth and create new local jobs for his Caribbean country.
When Bartlett and Al Khateeb were viewed as a revolutionary team, it was clear that Saudi Arabia has changed and continues to change rapidly – with billions supporting this revolution.
A revolutionary team
At the time, during his recent visit to Jamaica, Minister Al Khateeb led a high-level delegation, including Abdurahman Bakir, Vice President for Investment Attraction and Development at the Ministry of Investment in Saudi Arabia, and Hammad Al-Balawi, General Manager for Investment Management and Oversight in Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tourism.
Balala, Bartlett and Al Khateeb could be a successful combination of local leaders with a global approach to bring some hope to Africa’s ailing travel and tourism industries.
Cuthbert Ncube, chairman of the African Tourism Board and moderator of Project Hope under the direction of former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai said, “The African Tourism Board stands ready and is ready to support and coordinate any initiative that could emerge from the important discussion ahead on the recovery of African tourism. Stability is not only important to rebuild the urgently needed travel and tourism industry on our continent, but also stability and security for many of our countries. “
Saudi Arabia’s minister Al Khateeb, chairman of the powerful Saudi multi-billion dollar development fund, expressed a vision of accelerating the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s business in the world.
In May of this year, a tourism recovery summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It focused on the new era the tourism sector was entering and explored ways to also rebuild the African tourism sector, which has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kenya Summit is expected to explore the possibility of stronger partnerships between African countries and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as mitigating the effects of the pandemic and building resilience.
