The Saudi pavilion at the 2021 edition of the World Travel Market (WTM), one of the most important annual meetings for the international travel industry, was active with business deals and development announcements, which signals the growing global confidence in Saudi’s tourism sector.
At WTM London 2021, Saudi Arabia brought together partners spanning the breadth of giga-projects, DMCs and tour operators. During the event, the country’s leading travel companies entered into various commercial agreements with international tourism partners.
During the event, Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) has entered into several partnership deals, which includes, collaboration with Trip.com, one of the leading online travel agencies in the world, to increase global awareness of Saudi and support the country’s ambitious tourism goals. The agreement marks the beginning of a powerful partnership involving five of Trip.com Group’s brands including, Trip.com, Ctrip, Sky scanner, Travix, and MakeMyTrip.
Further, STA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JTB Group, one of the largest travel companies in the world, to support Saudi to gain market share in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Europe and the Americas. The partnership will drive traffic to Saudi, provide access to market intelligence and include education and training across Saudi within universities and for tour guides.
Fahd Hamidaddin CEO – STA
“The pandemic has shown us that the global tourism sector is not just interconnected but interdependent. As the sector rebuilds globally, we are building partnerships at all levels to support the recovery and growth of the sector. Saudi Arabia is establishing a leading global leisure tourism destination. We have been delighted by the positive response we have had from major global travel industry players to the tremendous opportunities our dynamic and growing tourism sector offers.”
In addition, Saudi Arabia also became a member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), one of the largest tourism organizations in the world. This membership will open up PATA’s extensive network of travel trade professionals to STA and help to boost brand awareness of Saudi in key markets and share market data and insights.
STA also signed an agreement with Bright sun Travel, the leading Umrah operator in the UK, to develop their stop-over products and services in Saudi Arabia. Further, the authority entered into a partnership with Oyster Diving, a luxury travel and diving company, to develop the infrastructure around diving experiences in key locations along the Red Sea.
The activities at the Saudi pavilion supported recent findings of the WTM Industry Report 2021, which highlighted the Kingdom as an upcoming tourism destination. The research indicated that more than half of the businesses surveyed are planning to have business conversations with Saudi companies over the next six months.
