Tourism, the responsible way

How destinations Gulf-wide are putting people and the planet first

In 2018, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) published a two-volume report titled, ‘Tourism for Development’ making recommendations on the ways in which tourism could contribute to sustainable development and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also and illustrated the global reach and positive effects of tourism on other sectors, setting out to increase awareness of tourism’s role in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and of the need to integrate sustainability into tourism policies, business practices and tourist behaviour. Describing tourism as a driver of sustainable development, the report explained that tourism benefits economic growth, quality of life, environmental protection, diverse cultural heritage, and world peace.

In 2022, despite the unprecedented challenges to societies, economies and tourism resulting from the pandemic, the industry has “succeeded in laying the foundations to restart tourism around the pillars of sustainability, innovation, people and investing for a resilient future”, says the UNTWO.

“Like never before, the pandemic has made clear tourism’s relevance to our economies and societies. Tourism is now part of the global conversation and at the heart of both national and international recovery action plans.”

The UNWTO says restarting tourism is “unthinkable without green investments” and the industry is “ready do the hard work and live up to its responsibilities to people and planet”, as demonstrated by the “huge interest” in the last year’s Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, launched at the UN Climate Summit COP26. “We are receiving a growing number of commitments to halve emissions by 2030 and to reach NetZero by 2050 at the latest, with member countries, individual destinations, global companies and local players, as well as media outlets, hundreds are on board, and counting,” says the UNWTO.

Saudi Steps Up

For UNWTO member the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sustainability has been at the heart of Vision 2030 since the strategy’s inception. The kingdom aims to reach Net Zero by 2060, in line with wider Vision 2030 ambitions to accelerate the energy transition, achieve sustainability goals, and to drive a new wave of investment.

A year after opening its regional office for the Middle East in Riyadh, the UNWTO has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and established the office as a rural tourism trailblazer.

The regional office is managing the UNWTO Global Tourism and Rural Development Programme, aimed at making tourism a pillar of growth and opportunity for rural communities. The programme includes the world’s Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO, now in its second year. Alongside this, the regional office is focusing on knowledge creation for policy and business practices, training and skills development and technical assistance on the ground, with plans also in place to establish a first Tourism and Rural Development Observatory in Riyadh.

To realise the goal of creating more added-value jobs in tourism through education, a new UNWTO Knowledge Lab will be launched from Riyadh, while a first Observatory on Quality of Tourism Education and Jobs will also be established to monitor the advancement of the strategy.

To ensure the benefits of tourism education are enjoyed as widely as possible, 10 new online courses will be made available in Arabic through the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy, and the UNWTO will also work with higher education providers from the region.

In line with UNWTO’s wider commitment to advancing tourism for climate action, plans are in place to make the UNWTO’s regional office for the Middle East a hub for promoting green investments in the tourism sector, both in the region and worldwide, including through projects developed in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and other partners such as the Saudi Tourism Development Fund (TDF) – responding to the UNWTO climate action framework, outlined in the Glasgow Declaration launched at COP26.

LET’S RESTORE NATURE

At last year’s World Travel Market London, the CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), Fahd Hamidaddin, called on the industry to form a ‘Tourism 20’ delegation of world industry leaders, similar to the G20, which was hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2020.

“At the G20, it was very clear tourism was missing in the room. There’s no Tourism 20,” he said, speaking at a conference session entitled: ‘Saudi Arabia: a destination of the future – putting sustainability first’.

He told a packed audience: “Our ambitions are high. We are seeing far. We are trying to build a leading destination framed by sustainability. Everybody talks about sustainability. Very few actually do something about it.” Speaking at the same session, and underlining the country’s commitment to sustainability, Amr AlMadani, CEO of The Royal Commission for AlUla, said: “Going green for us and being sustainable is not a choice, it’s the way forward”.

John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), added: “Saudi Arabia is taking very bold steps. We are going to be the largest tourism destination in the world, powered 100% by renewable energy.” He invited other tourism companies to follow this lead, concluding: “The tech exists. All that’s lacking is the will. Let’s restore nature.”

The Red Sea Project, a barefoot luxury destination spanning some 28,000 sqkm, involves several “ambitious regenerative tourism projects”, which Pagano says: “pave the way for renewed sustainable practices within the tourism industry, setting new standards as we progress”.

“We will be leaving 75% of The Red Sea Project’s islands untouched, for example, and only less than 1% of the site will be developed – unprecedented in any documented coastal development plan in the world.”

The development also aims to become the largest certified Dark Sky Reserve in the world, seeking an accreditation that recognises areas with an exceptional quality of starry nights and a commitment to protecting the nocturnal environment. TRSDC is also vital to the creation, training, and capacity-building of the present and next generation of Saudi talent through the creation of 120,000 direct and indirect jobs across both current projects by 2030, Pagano adds.

Similarly, ‘The Journey Through Time’ masterplan to sustainably develop the historical area of AlUla, to be implemented in three phases until 2035, aims to deliver 38,000 new jobs and contribute $32 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP.

Additionally, 80% of AlUla County will be home to nature reserves, with key flora and fauna reintroduced. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) recently signed two strategic partnerships worth billions to accelerate the regeneration of the region as it starts to implement key facets of Journey Through Time.

The agreements with AECOM and an international French consortium comprising Egis, Assystem and Setec, set out a comprehensive development timeline based around three phases that lead up to 2035.