A Saudi delegation led by Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb met with a French delegation headed by France’s Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Trade, Crafts, Tourism and Purchasing Power Serge Papin in Toledo, Spain, on the sidelines of the 126th session of the UN Tourism Executive Council.

The two delegations discussed the longstanding strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and France in tourism, emphasising the sector’s importance as a key driver of prosperity and economic growth.

They also explored ways to strengthen collaboration in support of shared priorities, including sustainable growth, destination competitiveness, investment attraction, and knowledge exchange.

During the meeting, the two sides signed a joint action programme aimed at translating shared priorities into practical initiatives to advance the tourism sectors in Saudi Arabia and France.

The joint action programme outlines several priority areas of collaboration, including developing tourism human capital through training, exchanging best practices, and strategic workforce planning.

The programme also encourages tourism investment cooperation, with a focus on promoting investment opportunities and facilitating partnerships.

Additionally, the programme promotes cooperation in sustainable tourism development by sharing expertise in tourism flow management and supporting the sustainable management of natural resources in hospitality industries.

It also includes collaboration on innovation and new technologies between French tech startups and Saudi tourism stakeholders, encouraging the adoption of innovative solutions and digital technologies in tourism, and promoting stakeholder participation in technology and digital innovation forums.

The joint action programme also covers cooperation on data and statistics by facilitating knowledge exchange on tourism data collection and analysis, and by initiating dialogue on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in processing tourism data.

Other areas of the programme include sharing expertise on organising international events and promoting knowledge exchange between the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) and Atout France in destination marketing.

The programme builds on the ongoing collaboration between Saudi Arabia and France and reflects both countries’ commitment to elevating their partnership from institutional dialogue to implementation-focused cooperation. -TradeArabia News Service