The inaugural TOURISE Summit opened on Tuesday, 11 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with an ambition to redefine the landscape of global travel.
With nearly 8,000 delegates registered and over 140 speakers participating in the three-day event, the Summit aims to gather governments, businesses, investors, and innovators to reshape the trillion-dollar tourism industry.
In his keynote address, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism and Chair of TOURISE, Ahmed Al Khateeb, emphasized the event’s mission to transform bold ideas into practical solutions that will guide the tourism sector over the next 50 years.
Al Khateeb highlighted the uncertainties currently facing the global stage, stating that the Summit aims to provide decisive solutions through dialogue and interaction.
He noted that last year, approximately 1.5 billion people traveled worldwide, with destinations like Fiji drawing about one million tourists—underlining the sector’s critical role in driving economic growth.
According to a recent report published late September by the World Travel & Tourism Council, over 357 million people are currently employed in the global tourism sector, with an expected addition of 90 million jobs by 2034.
However, the industry also faces a significant challenge: a projected gap of 40 million job positions that requires urgent solutions.
The Minister encouraged participants, especially from the private sector, to collaborate on strategies to address this challenge over the course of the Summit.
Al-Khateeb also pointed out the importance of technology and artificial intelligence in the future of tourism. While acknowledging that AI is “undeniably coming,” he stressed that it cannot replace the essential human interactions that are vital for personalized customer service.
Furthermore, Al-Khateeb noted that 40 percent of jobs in the tourism sector could be filled by women, and 30 percent by youth, making tourism a suitable industry for fostering sustainable opportunities for these groups.
He called for concerted efforts to protect jobs and to ensure that small states, islands, and developing regions, particularly in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, are given genuine opportunities for growth and dignified livelihoods.
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