In his meeting with members of the Hospitality and Entertainment Committee, Al-Fahaid said, "We seek to support the Arab tourism boom with projects of international character."
The President of the Arab Tourism Organization, Dr. Bandar bin Fahad Al-Fahaid, stressed the importance of the role of the private sector in the development of tourism activities.
He stressed the keenness of the Organization to increase the area of cooperation with the private sector in various Arab countries through the provision of certain events on certain areas in the tourism sector, the most important of which is training and qualification.
Al-Fahaid called on all private sector institutions in the Kingdom to join the Organization and benefit from all the activities and programs implemented through Arab and international partnerships.
He pointed out that the Organization is not a competition and not a profitable institution. In fact, it is an official body represented by all the Arab Ministers of Tourism, whose objective is to promote the tourism sector in cooperation with the private sector, which has most of the responsibility in this regard.
On Wednesday 28 November, 2018, Asharqia Chamber held a meeting with the President of the Arab Tourism Organization, Dr. Bandar bin Fahad Al-Fahaid.
The meeting was opened by a member of the Board of Directors of Asharqia Chamber, Badr Al-Abdul Karim, as he stressed that the tourism industry ranked first in the world by 8.5% of the size of the global economy, and that about 11% of the world's population work in the tourism sector, as well as the fact that tourism is one of the most established and developed industries because of its close association with the development of human relations, which became more present and expanded with the technological development.
He praised the efforts of the Arab Tourism Organization as it was able to contribute effectively to the development of the tourism sector in the Arab countries, to enhance the participation of the private sector and local communities in the tourism development process, and to develop in turn Arab tourism interfaces as a password in the development of the Arab tourism industry, as well as its serious efforts to attract more international tourism activity to the Arab region.
In this regard, Al-Fahaid said that the role of the Organization is the support and motivation, as it has a program to qualify the private sector to obtain ISO certificates, which is provided by the Organization in partnership with international institutions.
It also has an arbitration body for the tourism sector, which is supervised by HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman, which includes a distinguished elite from the Arab world. Its objective is to facilitate investors and solve their problems.
He pointed out that tourism has become an industry, because it is a sector that contributes to the movement of all other economic sectors.
It is enough to point out that around one billion and 200 million tourists are around the world.
It is expected that the investment of the tourism sector around the world in 2020 by about 300 billion dollars.
He pointed out that tourism in the Arab world has been affected in recent years and its losses amounted to about 40 billion dollars, but the loss is priceless is what happened to the places and archaeological sites and tourism because of the deterioration of the situation in some Arab countries, "this is the wealth of society."
Therefore, the Organization has implemented a program under the name of "insurance policies" to ensure investment under a working agreement with the Islamic Development Bank.
These policies contribute to securing the basic things needed by the investor in the tourism sector such as access to finance, investment insurance against a variety of risks, e.g., the risk of non-compliance with contracts, the risks of security and political deterioration.
He said that the training programs carried out by the Organization are not competitive with those involved in training or tourism (in any Arab country), but it is complementary with them.
Some programs can be implemented through special training centers in the Kingdom.
He said, "Our goal is to improve training and tourism by increasing the efficiency of our employees in this field, because our training programs have international standards. We serve as an Arab experience house for tourism that we seek to transfer and disseminate at the level of the Arab world. Therefore, the Organization offers investment opportunities for both training facilities and tourism facilities, and the opportunity is available to official institutions, public bodies, companies and even individuals to benefit from all these programs."
He pointed out that the Kingdom is one of the countries with a high level of tourism, because it has the most important foundations in this regard. It has security, without security is not tourism, even if the sites and other elements exist. the second basis is the existence of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, which developed strategies and plans implemented on the ground and began to achieve results and began to harvest the results.
He pointed out that the Organization participates in international exhibitions and events and seeks to deepen Arab international cooperation and transfer successful experiences in this regard.
He said, "We have regional offices in a number of Arab countries, and offices in Turkey and Spain too."
The meeting witnessed a presentation of a number of the Authority's projects that aimed at developing tourism in the Kingdom.
"The Arab Village" is a project that has been planned to be implemented in the Eastern Region with an area of 3000 square meters consisting of 22 suites, and each pavilion represents an Arab country (customs, traditional handicrafts, restaurants, clothing, etc.), in addition to conference centers, hotels, and charity.
These places allow the Arab and non-Arab tourists to spend a pleasant time in a diverse Arab atmosphere.
The Organization will start implementing this project in several Arab countries, most notably Egypt and the Kingdom of Bahrain and in more than one region of Saudi Arabia, including the Eastern Province.
Al Fahid described the Village as a common Arab market where it is witnessing the sale and purchase of products, workshops, products and conferences; "We, as an Organization, have to establish partnership, facilities, visas, etc., in a whole city with different cultures."
The meeting witnessed the exchange of certificates of appreciation between the Organization and the Chamber. The Board member Badr Al-Abdul Karim honored Dr. Al-Fahid, who is in turn provided a commemorative shield for the Chamber.
