Tourism is a global industry that affects the citizens of almost every country.
The World Tourism Organization has been mandated as a specialized agency of the United Nations to bring tourism on one large round table and set policies to bring tourism forward- together.
UNWTO however doesn’t have the resources, the leadership, and the members to do it alone.
Only global leaders who can see tourism from out of the box and understand how local, international, and global issues can interact are able to understand the complexity of the system, of tourism geopolitics.
The just-concluded World Tourism Day in Saudi Arabia was able to change the way tourism leaders and the world look at World Tourism Day. Bringing the largest number of ministers, and the most influential CEOs of private tourism companies together on World Tourism Day created a synergy like never before.
The Tourism Minister of Saudi Arabia took ownership of the last World Tourism Day and picked the most important trendsetters in the industry.
Unfortunately, doing this does not always give the credit deserved – why?
Is it bad PR, or is it that this tourism minister is generously concerned about action, outcome, and progress more than getting his picture on the front page of newspapers?
Is it because he is a humbled person? People in Saudi Arabia are humbled, such as the little chocolate girl.
Is it because the minister prefers to only speak to the media when it is relevant and to who is in the best position to share his message?
The person behind the success of World Tourism Day, the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit in 2022, and the Sustainable Center is the same minister who answered the phone to assist the world of tourism when the world was on the verge of bankruptcy during the COVID crisis.
He is also the same minister who is investing billions in tourism not only in his own emerging country but in the world economies.
He was able to inspire not only his own people but the world. Tourism Ministers from the Caribbean, Europe, to Asia are working on new projects and ideas that were created because HE Ahmed Al-Khateeb made impossible thinking possible.
For example, the idea of island hopping in the Caribbean may start in Saudi Arabia
With at least 14 of never done before billion-dollar mega projects in his country, with the ambition to create the largest airport in the world, and the largest airline, and with a goal to educate the young people in his country, so they can share the success is His Excellency, the Minister of Tourism for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ahmed Al-Khateeb.
With a dream team behind him, he has made a difference in global tourism in just a few short years no one else in the world was able to do since tourism started with the creation of SKAL in Paris in 1934.
Tourism Leadership is not always equal, and it may explain why World Tourism Day 2023 was different.
The party was definitely on in Riyadh for World Tourism Day.
His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, the Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia has over 25 years of experience in investment and financial services, during which he established, managed, and restructured a number of governmental agencies and companies. He is known for his ability to lead institutional transformation and achieve future visions efficiently and effectively.
If one job is not enough for this minister, here is a list of additional jobs he currently holds:
- Minister of Tourism
- Chairman of Quality of Life Program Committee
- Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Fund for Development
- Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
- Secretary General and Member of the Board of Directors of Diriyah Gate Development Authority
- Secretary General and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Jeddah Downtown
- Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Development Fund
- Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Tourism Authority
