Saudi Arabia will increasingly attract tourists to the country, and thus independent from the Oil business to be. A first four-billion-Dollar-filled development Fund will be launched, such as the Ministry of tourism announced on Sunday. The industry should be promoted in cooperation with Private and investment banks. “The launch of the Fund at this time, as the industry is facing unprecedented global challenges, is testimony to the confidence of investors and of the private sector in the long-term prospects for tourism in Saudi Arabia,” said tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb.
The tourism industry is one of the main pillars of the Saudi economic reforms. These aim to make the country more independent from Oil, which is currently suffering from falling prices for the raw material. Saudi Arabia opened last year for international tourists, introduced a new Visa regime and appealed at the same time to foreign companies to invest in this area. Tourism is expected to contribute by 2030, more than ten percent of the gross domestic product. Currently, there are only three percent.
Economists predict that Saudi Arabia, for the current year, a sharp downturn. Because of the economic consequences of the measures to contain the Corona of a pandemic, but also due to sharply declining Oil revenues due to low crude oil prices.
