COVID-19 Vaccine Spurs Expectations for Saudi Tourism Growth

Saudi men stand outside a tourist site in the Kingdom. (File photo: AFP)
Saudi men stand outside a tourist site in the Kingdom. (File photo: AFP)
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COVID-19 Vaccine Spurs Expectations for Saudi Tourism Growth

Saudi men stand outside a tourist site in the Kingdom. (File photo: AFP)
Saudi men stand outside a tourist site in the Kingdom. (File photo: AFP)

Expectations have increased for the growth of the Saudi tourism sector in 2021 with signs of a global economic recovery and the availability of the new COVID-19 vaccine.

Mohammad Al-Mujil, a businessman in the tourism sector and a former head of the Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh, expressed great optimism in the gradual revival of the economic activity in general and the fast growth of tourism inside and outside the Kingdom.

He also expected that the Saudi tourism sector would regain its vitality as of the third quarter of 2021.

“Expectations have risen in Saudi Arabia after the government made decisions to resume travel under compulsory conditions and the daily vaccination campaign which is moving at a rapid pace,” Mujil told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Starting from the first quarter of 2021, we will witness the revival of business tourism and hotel activities, and the launch of attractive events, with expectations of increasing investments in stalled projects in light of the expected support from the Tourist Fund, as well as the emergence of mega plans such as the Red Sea project,” he added.

For his part, Majid Al-Hokair, former head of the Saudi National Tourism Committee at the Council of Chambers, told Asharq Al-Awsat that expectations for an increase in the growth of the Saudi tourism sector were high, “with the adoption of adequate policies and plans and the increasing hope in the positive effects of the vaccination campaign in the Kingdom and abroad.”

In this context, Economist Dr. Khaled Ramadan, head of the International Center for Strategic Studies, expected that the tourism sector would achieve a gradual recovery this year and would compensate for the losses incurred in 2020 as the result of the pandemic.

He stated that the new projects and development in the tourism sector in the Kingdom would create around one million job opportunities and increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP from 3.8 percent to 10 percent.



China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Beijing on Friday increased its tariffs on US imports to 125%, hitting back against US President Donald Trump's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145% and raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.
Meanwhile, the turmoil unleashed by Trump's tariffs showed few signs of easing on Friday, with markets tumbling and foreign leaders puzzling how to respond to the biggest disruption to the world trade order in decades.
A brief reprieve for battered stocks seen after Trump decided to pause duties for dozens of countries for 90 days quickly dissipated, as attention returned to his escalating trade war with China that has fueled global recession fears, Reuters reported.
Global stocks fell, the dollar slid and a sell-off in US government bonds picked up pace on Friday, reigniting fears of fragility in the world's biggest bond market. Gold, a safe haven for investors in times of crisis, scaled a record high.
"Recession risk is much, much higher now than it was a couple weeks ago," said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to assuage sceptics by telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday that more than 75 countries wanted to start trade negotiations. Trump himself expressed hope of a deal with China, the world's No.2 economy.
But the uncertainty in the meantime extended some of the most volatile trading since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian indices mostly followed Wall Street lower on Friday. In Europe, China's latest tariff hike sent stocks lower, leaving the STOXX 600 down more than 1% on the day and set for another drop this week, one of its most volatile on record.
Bessent shrugged off the renewed market turmoil on Thursday and said striking deals with other countries would bring certainty.
The US and Vietnam have agreed to begin formal trade talks, the White House said. The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory in the hope of avoiding tariffs, Reuters exclusively reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, meanwhile, has set up a trade task force that hopes to visit Washington next week.
As Trump suddenly paused his 'reciprocal' tariffs on other countries hours after they came into effect earlier this week, he ratcheted up duties on Chinese imports as punishment for Beijing's initial move to retaliate.
He has now imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods of 145% since taking office, a White House official said.
China hit back with new tariffs on Friday.
"The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion," China's finance ministry said in a statement.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he thought the United States could make a deal with China and said he respected Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"In a true sense he's been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries," he said.

Xi, in his first public remarks on Trump's tariffs, told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a meeting in Beijing on Friday that China and the European Union should "jointly oppose unilateral acts of bullying," China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
"There are no winners in a trade war," the Chinese leader told his guest, adding that by acting together, the world's second-largest economy and the 27-strong European trade bloc could help uphold "the global rules-based order."