Asharqia Chamber reviews the new tourism system regulations
On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, the Asharqia Chamber, represented by the Hospitality and Entertainment Committee, organized a workshop that reviewed the regulations of the new tourism system, hosted by the Chamber's headquarters.
The workshop showed that the Ministry worked on preparing regulations for tourism activities by international best practices in (20) countries, according to the tourism and travel competitiveness index, and in line with the general strategy for the development of national tourism and achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and developing procedures and requirements for practicing tourism activities, and the commitments that It includes raising the level of quality of services provided to tourists, and inspecting them.
The workshop reviewed the principles that were taken into account when preparing the regulations, to enable the private sector by increasing job opportunities, adding new activities to the tourism market, considering the size of projects and the added value, and involving the local community.
In the aspect of sustainability, the criteria for preserving the environment, permanent maintenance, governance, and continuous development of workers were taken into account, and about control and tourist rights, the standards emphasized raising the level of service quality, tourist security, and safety, compensation for damage, and ensuring adherence and compliance, and on the investment side, it worked on Reducing requirements and facilitating procedures, encouraging innovation and development, attracting international companies, and providing opportunities for small enterprises.
The workshop showed that the process of developing the types and standards of tourism hospitality facilities went through stages that began with the use of a consulting company, studying the current situation through reports, field visits, and the results of applying current standards, holding meetings with international companies, international practices, and preparing the initial version, And sharing it with investors and partners by holding workshops with it and also presenting it in a survey platform, until reaching the final version.
Among the most prominent developments in the types of hospitality facilities and classification, standards are working to overcome licensing and classification difficulties, reorganizing classes, promoting sustainability, unifying requirements, and standards documents, flexibility in some standards for the regions of Makkah and Madinah, and increasing the clarity of requirements. Changing 373 old standards in the hotel sector to 361 new standards, and in the serviced apartments sector, 296 old standards were changed to 236 new standards.
The official in charge of licensing development at the Ministry of Tourism, Nawaf bin Saleh bin Shadeed, and the regulatory advisor in the Ministry of Laws and Regulations, Al-Mu’tasim Billah bin Saad Al-Madi, spoke at the workshop. The workshop was moderated by a member of the Chamber’s Hospitality and Entertainment Committee, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Murshid.
