The British Embassy in Riyadh is a place where UK business leaders residing in Saudi Arabia can enjoy some fish and chips and talk about opportunities.
Developing the fast-changing travel and tourism sector in Saudi Arabia was on the agenda last night at the Riyadh Group for British Businesses (RGBB) meeting at the United Kingdom Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
The star of the night was HE, Gloria Guevara. The former Mexican tourism minister, and the former CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), has been the special advisor for HE Ahmed Al-Khateeb, the minister of tourism for Saudi Arabia, for about two years.
She lived in London at her time as the WTTC CEO and was considered the most powerful woman in tourism in the world.
With her influence in Saudi Arabia, this title may still be appropriate today.
Her love for the travel and tourism industry has not changed. The influence the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has on this sector is enormous.
If any person in travel tourism leads with passion, Ms. Guevara is this global leader. Thinking out of the box is what Saudi Tourism needs to handle the enormous growth visible in Riyadh and many regions of the Kingdom.
Sustainability is Gloria’s priority. A new international group under her leadership in the Ministry of Tourism is working to provide a solution to sustainable tourism and climate change to the world.
Dreaming big is the modus operandi in Saudi Arabia. This counts specifically for travel and tourism.
It appears most dreams are becoming a reality in the Kingdom.
Ms. Guevara gave an insight into pending projects. With all the mega tourism undertakings in the works and so many more in the pipeline, it almost borders on magic to make this a reality.
Magic seems to be possible in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
His Highness Prince Mansour bin Saad Al Saud, Deputy Director General at the King Faisal Foundation and Board Member of Al Khozama Investment, was a guest at the event last night.
He explained how such magic can become a reality when the needed funding is put behind it.
Faisal Adkhali, a lecturer in Tourism at King Saud University, agreed with His Highness.
Educating and training hundreds of thousands of Saudis and foreign workers to make the planned development of hundreds of new hotels and tourism infrastructure workable is underway.
The demand for tourism in Saudi Arabia is there. Connectivity is becoming tied. Airfares from Dubai to Riyadh often sell for $900.00 one way.
The Saudi Arabian government helps many airlines to raise capacity to raise the capacity of carriers serving this market, but this is only the humbling beginning.
The eTurboNews publisher Juergen Steinmetz attended the event and asked HE Gloria Guevara about Riyadh Air.
Riyadh Air is the new kid on the block and will start flying in 2025. The most significant future carrier in the world serving from the largest airport is a current dream and most likely be a reality in some short years.
The money is behind this dream. The reality will most likely kick in sooner than expected, making Riyadh a new Middle East connecting point for the world and Saudi Arabia a tourism destination like no other.
What about water planes with panoramic windows serving the new Red Sea resorts? Riyadh Air wants to bring the fun back into flying.
