Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage and the General Investment Authority announced the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding and agreements with local and international investment companies in the tourism sector, with a total value of about 100 billion Saudi riyals.
According to the Emirates News Agency, these agreements represent the promising opportunities in the Kingdom's tourism sector and reflect the great potential this sector offers locally and globally.
The authority signed two memoranda of understanding between Al Khozama company and the Mayasem and Harbour projects, to work on investment projects in the real estate sector, the food and beverage sector, facilities management and service provision, in addition to signing a memorandum of understanding and an agreement between the Diriyah Gate Development Authority and the Greg Norman company to design and build a golf course in Wadi Safar, and another with Aman Resorts to build a 40-room hotel in the Al-Bujairi district.
Saudi Arabian Airlines also signed similar agreements, the first with NEOM to launch the first commercial flights to NEOM, the second, with the support of the tourism authority, to launch a joint initiative between Saudia and The Red Sea Development Company, and the last an agreement with the Royal Commission for AlUla.
The agency said the investment authority signed memoranda of understanding with a number of regional and international companies, such as Triple Five Group, to develop a number of tourism, hospitality and entertainment projects around the Kingdom worth 37.5 billion riyals.
It also signed a memorandum of understanding with Majid Al Futtaim, worth 20 billion riyals, to build a shopping and entertainment mall featuring the largest indoor ice skating rink and a snow park, in addition to other memoranda of understanding with FTG Development, OYO Rooms and Nanking Group/Ajlan, with a total value of 11 billion riyals.
The chairman of the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, stressed that these signed memoranda and agreements are the beginning of the investment opportunities to come in the Saudi tourism sector.
Al-Khateeb noted that the tourism sector in the Kingdom is the fastest-growing sector in the world, adding that Saudi Arabia will see other global companies establish their businesses in the Saudi market, given the landmarks, culture and natural beauty that distinguish the Kingdom and are appreciated worldwide.
On the sidelines of the signing of the agreements, the investment authority handed over two investment licenses with a total value of 272.5 million riyals, the first to the Irish company Kerten Hospitality to develop a group of multi-purpose projects around the Kingdom, and the second to the British company Tetrapylon to cooperate with tourism service providers from North America, Europe and Asia.
Other investments in the Kingdom's tourism sector worth 36.25 billion riyals were also announced during the signing ceremony by a number of companies, including Alshaya, Shumoul Real Estate, Radisson Hotels and Seera Group Holding, which came in the context of a series of economic reforms to attract quality investments to the Saudi market.
These agreements come within the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which include increasing the number of domestic and foreign tourists to 100 million by 2030, and seeking to raise the tourism sector's contribution to GDP to 10%.
