Saudi Arabia Turns Global Tourism Into Diplomacy With UN Vote in Riyadh
Photo Credit: The Prophet's Mosque is a holy site in Islam. Pexels / Sami TÜRK
Skift Take
In Saudi Arabia, tourism is now geopolitics. By hosting a historic UN Tourism vote and calling on the U.S. to rejoin the organization, Riyadh is positioning itself as both the industry’s banker and its broker.
The United Nations’ tourism body elected Shaikha Al Nowais, its first female Secretary-General this week, marking a historic milestone for the 50-year-old organization — and one that Saudi Arabia was eager to claim as part of its own transformation story.
“I’m very proud this happened in Riyadh — and in the 50th anniversary year,” Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, told Skift in an interview at UN Tourism’s 26th general assembly. It was also a milestone that he thought, “came way too late.”
For Al Khateeb, the appointment symbolizes progress within the UN system and reinforces Saudi Arabia’s push to showcase women’s participation in its own tourism sector. Forty-six percent of the Kingdom’s tourism workforce i
