Saudi Arabia and World Economic Forum Unveil ‘Beyond Tourism’ Initiative for Sustainable Global Travel

In a landmark collaboration aimed at reshaping the global tourism landscape, the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum announced the launch of Beyond Tourism on November 12, 2025. This ambitious multi-sector initiative seeks to transform the international tourism industry through coordinated, measurable action focused on sustainability, social inclusion, and economic resilience. The announcement was made on the sidelines of TOURISE, the global platform that convenes public and private sector leaders to collectively shape the future trajectory of tourism worldwide.

The Beyond Tourism initiative represents a fundamental shift in how the global community approaches travel and hospitality, moving beyond traditional metrics of tourist arrivals and revenue generation toward a more holistic framework that considers long-term environmental sustainability, cultural preservation, community empowerment, and equitable economic development. By bringing together diverse stakeholders from across the tourism ecosystem, the partnership aims to create lasting, positive impacts for residents, visitors, businesses, and communities around the world.

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A Comprehensive Multi-Sector Approach

What distinguishes Beyond Tourism from previous tourism development initiatives is its deliberately comprehensive scope, extending far beyond conventional hospitality sector boundaries. The initiative brings together leaders and organizations from real estate development, infrastructure planning, technology innovation, urban design, cultural heritage preservation, and environmental conservation. This cross-sectoral collaboration recognizes that sustainable tourism development inherently requires integration across multiple domains that traditionally operate in silos.

The initiative is anchored in ten carefully developed guiding principles designed to ensure that tourism growth generates meaningful, lasting value across multiple dimensions. These principles provide a shared framework for stakeholders working in different contexts and regions, while allowing sufficient flexibility for adaptation to local circumstances, cultural contexts, and developmental priorities.

Speaking at the launch event, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, emphasized the initiative’s broader humanitarian dimensions. “Saudi Arabia is proud to lead Beyond Tourism in partnership with the World Economic Forum,” Al-Khateeb stated. “This partnership reflects our shared belief that the solutions we seek for tourism are, solutions for humanity itself — solutions that foster understanding, create opportunity, and build resilience for generations to come.”

Alignment with Saudi Vision 2030

The launch of Beyond Tourism aligns strategically with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s comprehensive blueprint for economic transformation and social development. Under Vision 2030, tourism has been identified as a critical pillar for economic diversification, reducing the country’s historical dependence on oil revenues while creating employment opportunities and facilitating cultural exchange both within the Kingdom and internationally.

Since the launch of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has undertaken dramatic reforms to its tourism sector, including the introduction of tourist visas for international visitors, significant investments in tourism infrastructure and attractions, development of major giga-projects including NEOM and the Red Sea Project, and efforts to preserve and showcase the Kingdom’s rich cultural and natural heritage. These initiatives have contributed to remarkable visitor growth, with Saudi Arabia welcoming more than 116 million visitors since Vision 2030’s inception.

The Kingdom has set an ambitious target of attracting 150 million visitors annually by 2030, a goal that requires not just quantitative expansion but qualitative transformation of the tourism experience. Beyond Tourism provides a framework for ensuring this growth occurs in ways that benefit Saudi society broadly while establishing sustainable practices that can serve as models for other destinations worldwide.

Tourism’s role within Vision 2030 extends beyond direct economic contributions to encompass broader objectives including youth employment, women’s workforce participation, preservation of Saudi cultural heritage, environmental protection, and enhanced international engagement. The sector is projected to contribute significantly to GDP growth and job creation, with particular emphasis on opportunities for Saudi nationals in an economy traditionally dependent on expatriate labor in many service sectors.

Ten Guiding Principles for Transformative Tourism

The World Economic Forum and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism jointly developed the initiative’s ten guiding principles through extensive consultation with industry experts, academics, government officials, civil society representatives, and private sector leaders. These principles represent a consensus view on the essential elements of responsible, sustainable tourism development in the 21st century.

1. Align market opportunities with local strengths and values: This principle emphasizes the importance of developing tourism offerings that authentically reflect and leverage each destination’s unique characteristics, whether natural landscapes, cultural traditions, culinary heritage, or artistic expressions. Rather than imposing standardized tourism models, destinations should identify and develop their distinctive competitive advantages in ways consistent with local values and aspirations.

2. Enable responsible choices for evolving travelers: Modern travelers increasingly seek meaningful experiences and want to make choices that minimize negative impacts. This principle calls for providing travelers with transparent information about the sustainability credentials of tourism services, supporting certification schemes for responsible operators, and making it easy for visitors to choose options that align with their values regarding environmental protection and social responsibility.

3. Empower local enterprise and economies: Tourism development should maximize benefits for local communities through mechanisms including procurement from local suppliers, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, investment in local entrepreneurship, and ensuring that tourism revenues circulate within local economies rather than leaking away to international corporations or distant investors.

4. Invest in a future-ready workforce: The tourism sector must invest in education, training, and skills development to prepare workers for evolving industry requirements. This includes technical skills related to hospitality operations, digital competencies for an increasingly technology-enabled sector, language training, cultural competencies, and leadership development to ensure local populations can access management and executive positions rather than only entry-level employment.

5. Develop infrastructure for shared benefit: Tourism infrastructure investments including transportation networks, utilities, telecommunications, and public spaces should be designed to serve resident populations as well as visitors. When infrastructure serves dual purposes, it generates broader community support for tourism development while maximizing return on investment and contributing to overall quality of life improvements.

6. Balance demand with local capacity: Recognizing that excessive tourism can strain infrastructure, degrade environments, and diminish quality of life for residents, destinations must implement carrying capacity assessments and demand management strategies. This may include visitor quotas for sensitive areas, seasonal distribution of demand, promotion of alternative destinations, and pricing mechanisms that discourage overtourism while maintaining accessibility.

7. Champion cultural heritage and connection: Tourism should serve as a vehicle for cultural preservation and exchange rather than commodification or degradation. This principle emphasizes authentic cultural experiences, support for traditional crafts and practices, respectful engagement between visitors and host communities, and investment in heritage conservation that makes sites accessible while protecting their integrity for future generations.

8. Revitalize and protect natural ecosystems: Tourism can provide economic incentives for environmental conservation, but only if carefully managed. This principle calls for tourism development that actively contributes to ecosystem restoration, protection of biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources, and mitigation of climate change impacts through renewable energy adoption and carbon reduction strategies.

9. Strengthen ecosystem resilience: Building on the previous principle, this focuses on enhancing the ability of natural and human systems to withstand shocks including climate events, pandemics, economic disruptions, and other crises. Resilient tourism systems incorporate diversification, adaptive capacity, emergency preparedness, and the ability to rapidly recover from disruptions while learning from crisis experiences.

10. Harness data and technology responsibly: While digital technologies offer tremendous opportunities for enhancing visitor experiences, improving operational efficiency, and supporting sustainable practices, they must be deployed with attention to privacy protection, digital inclusion, cyber security, and avoiding technology-driven exclusion of populations lacking digital access or literacy.

Global Coalition and Implementation Framework

As part of Beyond Tourism, a global coalition of leaders representing governments, international organizations, private sector companies, academic institutions, and civil society organizations has been established. This coalition will work collaboratively to identify and implement demonstration projects in key regions around the world, testing innovative approaches to sustainable tourism development and generating practical lessons that can be adapted and scaled.

Over the next three years, the Ministry of Tourism and the World Economic Forum have committed to several priority activities including building a diverse, inclusive community of practice that brings together stakeholders from different sectors and geographies, developing practical tools, guidelines, and resources that destinations and businesses can use to implement the ten guiding principles, piloting sustainable tourism models in diverse contexts to demonstrate feasibility and generate evidence of effectiveness, and establishing monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress toward initiative objectives and share learning across the global network.

The demonstration projects will be carefully selected to represent different geographic regions, tourism market segments, developmental contexts, and implementation challenges. By testing approaches in diverse settings, the initiative aims to generate insights about what works, under what conditions, and how successful models can be adapted to different circumstances.

Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, articulated the initiative’s transformative vision during the launch event. “Tourism is both a bridge and a ladder — connecting cultures and lifting communities,” Brende stated. “If we do this together, Beyond Tourism will unlock the sector’s full potential — not just in GDP terms, but in quality jobs, vibrant places, and regenerated nature.”

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Context: Global Tourism at a Crossroads

Beyond Tourism emerges at a critical juncture for the global tourism industry. Following the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought international travel to a near standstill in 2020 and 2021, the sector has experienced robust recovery with international arrivals approaching and in some cases exceeding pre-pandemic levels. However, this recovery has been accompanied by intensified debates about tourism’s environmental footprint, concerns about overtourism in popular destinations, questions about equitable distribution of tourism benefits, and recognition that the pre-pandemic status quo was unsustainable in multiple respects.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that tourism accounts for approximately 10% of global GDP and one in ten jobs worldwide, making it a crucial economic sector particularly for many developing countries and small island states. However, tourism also contributes significantly to carbon emissions through aviation, accommodation, and tourist activities, generates substantial waste and pollution, can strain water resources in water-scarce destinations, and has been associated with cultural commodification, displacement of local residents from historic neighborhoods, and environmental degradation in fragile ecosystems.

These contradictions have sparked growing recognition that tourism development must be fundamentally rethought to maximize positive contributions while minimizing negative externalities. The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, launched at COP26, represents one significant effort to mobilize the sector around climate commitments. Beyond Tourism builds on such initiatives while adopting a more comprehensive scope encompassing not just environmental sustainability but also social equity, economic inclusion, and systemic resilience.

Regional and International Implications

Saudi Arabia’s leadership in launching Beyond Tourism carries significant regional and international implications. Within the Middle East and North Africa region, tourism development has been identified as a priority for economic diversification and youth employment in countries heavily dependent on hydrocarbon exports. Several Gulf Cooperation Council states including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman have made substantial investments in tourism infrastructure and destination marketing in recent years.

By championing a sustainability-focused framework for tourism development, Saudi Arabia positions itself as a thought leader on responsible growth rather than merely pursuing visitor numbers and revenue maximization. This approach may influence regional peers and contribute to raising standards across the Middle East tourism sector. Given Saudi Arabia’s significant economic weight and its central role in Islamic heritage tourism through custodianship of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, the Kingdom’s tourism practices and policies carry substantial influence.

Internationally, Beyond Tourism addresses growing pressure from civil society, environmental organizations, and increasingly from travelers themselves for more responsible tourism practices. A growing segment of travelers, particularly younger generations, report that sustainability considerations influence their travel decisions including destination choices, accommodation selections, and activity preferences. Tourism businesses and destinations that demonstrate genuine commitment to sustainability may gain competitive advantages with these conscious consumers.

The initiative also aligns with broader Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations, particularly goals related to sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, and life on land. Tourism touches on multiple SDGs and can either contribute to or detract from progress depending on how it is managed.

Challenges and Critical Success Factors

While Beyond Tourism’s ambitions are commendable, successful implementation will require overcoming substantial challenges. Tourism is an enormously diverse sector encompassing everything from small family-run guesthouses to massive international hotel chains, from adventure tourism operators to cultural heritage sites, from airlines to car rental companies. Achieving coordination and alignment across this fragmented ecosystem is inherently difficult.

Moreover, tourism development often involves tensions between competing objectives. Economic growth imperatives may conflict with environmental protection priorities; visitor satisfaction goals may clash with resident wellbeing concerns; accessibility objectives may compete with exclusivity positioning; short-term revenue pressures may undermine long-term sustainability investments. Navigating these tradeoffs requires sophisticated governance mechanisms, stakeholder dialogue processes, and willingness to make difficult choices.

The initiative’s success will likely depend on several critical factors including sustained political commitment and resources from Saudi Arabia, the World Economic Forum, and other partners over the multi-year implementation timeline, genuine engagement from major tourism industry players including international hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, and online travel platforms, effective measurement systems that track not just traditional tourism metrics but also sustainability indicators, social impacts, and economic inclusion outcomes, and mechanisms for learning and adaptation as demonstration projects generate insights about what approaches work effectively in different contexts.

Accountability and transparency will be particularly important given legitimate skepticism about greenwashing and sustainability claims that lack substantive backing. The initiative will need to demonstrate tangible progress through credible monitoring and public reporting rather than relying on aspirational rhetoric alone.

Looking Forward: Tourism’s Transformative Potential

At its core, Beyond Tourism rests on a belief in the sector’s potential to contribute positively to human development, cultural exchange, environmental conservation, and peace building. When managed responsibly, tourism can generate income for poor communities, create incentives for protecting natural areas and cultural heritage, foster cross-cultural understanding, and support local livelihoods in ways that respect traditional practices and knowledge.

The initiative’s emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration reflects recognition that no single actor can drive the necessary transformation alone. Governments provide regulatory frameworks and public investments; private companies deliver tourism services and drive innovation; civil society organizations advocate for communities and environment; international bodies facilitate cooperation and standard-setting; and travelers themselves shape demand through their choices and behaviors.

As climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequalities present mounting challenges globally, transforming tourism from part of the problem to part of the solution has become increasingly urgent. Beyond Tourism offers a framework for this transformation, grounded in practical principles and backed by the convening power and resources of Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum.

The coming years will reveal whether this ambitious vision can be translated into meaningful change on the ground, in destinations around the world, and in the daily practices of tourism businesses and travelers. Success would establish new norms for responsible tourism development with implications extending far beyond the sector itself to demonstrate how economic growth can be reconciled with environmental sustainability and social equity.

For Saudi Arabia, leading this initiative represents an opportunity to shape global conversations about tourism’s future while demonstrating that the Kingdom’s own remarkable tourism expansion under Vision 2030 is being pursued with attention to sustainability and community benefit. For the broader tourism industry and destinations worldwide, Beyond Tourism provides both inspiration and practical guidance for navigating the complex challenges of 21st century travel.

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photo source: Google

By: Montel Kamau

Serrari Financial Analyst

13th November, 2025