Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's tourism sector undergoes a transformative journey. With nearly $1 trillion invested in projects and infrastructure, the country strategically positions itself through agility, a robust ecosystem and public-private partnerships.
Achieving the milestone of 100 million tourists ahead of schedule demonstrates Saudi Arabia's potential, yet the new target of 150 million tourists by 2030 poses challenges in rapidly expanding infrastructure, such as constructing 500,000 rooms. Collaboration with the private sector, offering incentives and streamlined processes, is key to attracting investors and operators. Exciting developments like the Red Sea Development and NEOM underscore the country's commitment to sustainable tourism, respecting local culture and engaging communities. Saudi Arabia aims to showcase its rich heritage and hospitality while setting a precedent for global tourism investment. Watch this exclusive interview with HE Gloria Guevara, Chief Special Adviser to the Minister of Tourism!
Patrick Whyte:
Gloria, thanks for joining us.
Gloria Guevara:
Thank you for having me.
Patrick Whyte:
Could you tell me a little bit about your role at Saudi Arabia, what you do there?
Gloria Guevara:
I'm currently the Chief Special Advisor to His Excellency, Ahmed al-Khateeb, the Minister of Tourism.
Patrick Whyte:
Saudi Arabia is obviously a big investor in tourism at the moment. Could you talk a bit about the plans and what's in store for the next few years?
Gloria Guevara:
What is happening in Saudi is truly a transformation. I have been in the sector for more than 30 years. As you know, I was a Minister of Tourism in my country. Then, at WTTC, I had the chance to interact with more than 150 leaders of governments. But what's happening in Saudi is very unique. We have the vision, Vision 2030, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has defined to guide the country. We have the leadership of His Excellency, Ahmed al-Khateeb, and an amazing team to execute. And on top of that, we have the resources. The combination of those three is very powerful in order to transform a country and develop travel and tourism. I have never seen these three factors combined like this. I experienced it in my own country, of course, in tourism, but when you think about it, most countries take the sector for granted. They either have the vision or the leadership, but they rarely have all three. And what is the result of that? The result is that the country is investing almost $1 trillion, which is close to the GDP of my country, by the way, in projects. Half of that is going to NEOM. The other half is going to infrastructure, the biggest airport in the world, a new airline, and also developing different destinations and products, everything you can imagine. This is providing opportunities for the private sector, for hotels to build rooms, and to help us develop the sector to take Saudi to become a top 5 destination globally. Now as part of Vision 2030, it was defined that we were going to reach 100 million tourists. It was fascinating. Just last December, we achieved that number. We had 100 million, and remember that the country was closed before September 2019. We opened in September 2019 for the first time ever. It's a new record; of those 100 million, 27 million were international tourists, which is the first time and the highest ever. Now, of course, the good news is that we accomplished that seven years earlier. The challenging news is now the new target is 150 million, which is 50% more, but that's achievable by 2030.
Patrick Whyte:
And as you know from your time at WTTC and your role in government, tourism is a very competitive game. You've got lots of countries trying to attract tourists. What is the Saudi viewpoint in terms of USP? How do you win really?
Gloria Guevara:
That's a great question. And you're absolutely right. This is a very competitive sector. Many countries have beautiful destinations, amazing products, gastronomy and culture among others. I think what Saudi is doing, as the new player in the game, is quite unique because we’ve just opened. What we’re trying to do is learn from others as we develop the sector. But what we're trying to do is learn from others as we develop the sector. We're being agile. We have a very strong strategy, and we also have a very good ecosystem. We have the Ministry of Tourism as the regulator. We have the Saudi Tourism Authority as the promoter, and we also have a Tourism Development Fund that is providing the funds. Saudi is partnering with the private sector. We've launched some incentives, for instance, here in the conference, to ease the way to invest in the country, to do business where the country can help investors, not only showing them where the opportunities are but also guiding them through the process to ensure good returns and maximize investment. We need to build 500,000 rooms before 2030.
Patrick Whyte:
I was going to say that must be one of the big challenges to you.
Gloria Guevara:
It's a significant challenge, as you know. Yes, we've announced a new airline. We're investing in airports, in infrastructure. We have a high-speed train, but as you say, we need to build a lot of rooms, we need to build a lot of products, and we cannot do that alone. Yes, the government is investing in giga-projects, which is fantastic. You have probably heard about the Red Sea and Diriyah, which have already opened. Several other giga-projects, such as NEOM and Qiddiya were announced recently. It's very important to work together, to share incentives. If you want to invest in Saudi, we can work with you. If you want to come and operate and bring your expertise to Saudi, we also have opportunities. If you want to do both, absolutely, there are also multiple opportunities, not only in the main cities but also in secondary cities in the country.
Patrick Whyte:s
And obviously, there's lots happening at the moment and more to come. Is there anything you're particularly excited about developing over the next few years and beyond in terms of tourism in Saudi Arabia?
Gloria Guevara:
It's quite exciting because not only do you see new announcements every week, which is contagious. It's very positive. But you also see the results of the announcements. For instance, Diriyah was announced a couple of years ago. Now we have the Bujairi Terrace open, and they are going to have hotels too, and we already have many restaurants. You see these projects coming to life, which is fascinating. And in terms of the private sector, we are trying to take a holistic approach with a very structured strategy. And what I can tell you is that I'm very impressed. I have experienced both the private sector and government, as you know. This country is being run like the private sector. We have very clear KPIs. We have business goals that we need to accomplish, and we get quarterly reviews, which is why you see this speed and why you see the execution moving in the right direction. And in that regard, we're creating a lot of new products. What's fascinating is how this is a destination that you didn't have access to before, that now you can go and experience. Go to Alula, find a beautiful destination with great history and culture. But not only that, the community engagement, the locals are tour guides, they're serving you in the restaurants, they own the shops. So that is very important because it has also been done in a very sustainable way.
Patrick Whyte:
Keeping the authenticity as well, which people want when they're traveling.
Gloria Guevara:
Yes. Exactly. So that you can experience the DNA of the Saudis, which to me, as a Mexican, I always say Mexicans we're very picky because we like to provide good hospitality, or at least we try. Right? But I always say in Saudi, the hospitality is part of the DNA also. We want to make sure that when you come, you experience the culture. You feel the same way that the Saudis feel, very welcoming culture. And at the same time, you have a chance to share the beautiful places that you can experience in a pretty big country, actually. What I love the most, is that yes, this is the country that has oil resources for 100 more years perhaps. But the fact that our leader is seeing tourism as a very important sector, and he is really making a point and investing in this sector, that's refreshing. He is not taking this for granted. He is making it a priority, assigning resources and helping the sector.
What’s happening in Saudi, it’s not only helping Saudi, from my point of view; it is helping the entire sector, because it's creating that competition that you mentioned. Now suddenly other countries-
Patrick Whyte:
Upping their game.
Gloria Guevara:
... exactly, they're opening the game and say, "Wow, if this is happening in Saudi, I think I need to also invest a little bit more because I have just taken this for granted for the last 20 or 30 years perhaps."
Patrick Whyte:
That's a nice place to finish. Gloria, thanks very much your time.
Gloria Guevara:
Thank you. And hope to see you there soon.
Patrick Whyte:
Thank you very much.
Gloria Guevara:
Thank you.