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WTTC Summit Launches From Riyadh Global Tourism Index for Innovation, Future Sustainability

The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)  
The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)  
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WTTC Summit Launches From Riyadh Global Tourism Index for Innovation, Future Sustainability

The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)  
The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)  

The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded its work in Riyadh on Wednesday, with an initiative to launch a global tourism index for innovation and future sustainability.

Meanwhile, Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib pointed to the importance of Saudi Arabia on the map of international travel and tourism, indicating that the Kingdom’s embrace of the Global Center for Sustainable Tourism was an important step towards achieving carbon neutrality.

Wildlife

The Saudi Minister of Tourism, and US actor and global philanthropist Edward Norton have donated $1 million each to the Maasai Wildlife Conservation Trust in Kenya, of which Norton will be Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In remarks at the summit, Norton said: “The defining challenge of the 21st Century is adapting our economies and industries to be ecologically sustainable and to put the brakes on global warming.”

Norton emphasized the need to “raise the bar higher on sustainability standards for the tourism industry.”

“I’m enormously grateful for the contribution WTTC and our hosts at the Saudi Ministry of Tourism have made to the critical work of Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. This organization is a shining example of how frontline indigenous communities can build transformative new economic opportunity through wise management of natural resources,” he told the summit.

Reducing Emissions

Meanwhile, the Global Center for Sustainable Tourism revealed in a press conference on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the summit in Riyadh, the role of the sector in reducing the percentage of its emissions by more than 40 percent by 2030 through radical measures aimed at achieving carbon neutrality.

A report entitled “Developing travel and tourism for a better world” showed that the global travel and tourism sector contributed to creating promising opportunities for societies and the economy, but stressed, at the same time, the importance of finding urgent solutions to the environmental impact of the sector, which causes 9-12 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

Innovation and Sustainability Index

On a different note, Saudi Arabia has called on all concerned government agencies around the world for the widest possible cooperation for a sustainable future for the travel and tourism sector, by working to launch a new global index that seeks to promote smart and sustainable travel.

The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) will collaborate with the largest industry intelligence and news platform, Skift, to establish a framework for the planned index.

The index could provide thousands of national and international organizations with data that will drive elevated sector services, inform policy reforms to boost and enable country-level innovation.

A statement noted that the planned index has been structured to incorporate international best practices as well as global tourism and innovation indices, and will build on the work of the World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Tourism Organization.

It would be based on surveys and data collection, and provide a holistic smart tourism score that measures performance across three pillars – the ecosystem, the destination, and the experience, the statement added.

Fahd Hamidaddin, Saudi Tourism Authority CEO and Member of the Board, said: “As the fastest growing tourism market in the G20, Saudi Arabia is moving rapidly to create authentic, immersive and unrivalled experiences for travelers from around the world.”

“The concept behind the Tourism Innovation Index is another important step in this direction and can give a truly global impact. It will provide invaluable data and insight that informs policy, drives meaningful change and promotes continuous enhancement.”

For his part, Rafat Ali, Skift Founder, said: “Bringing together leading tourism players to share best practices related to destination stewardship, sustainability, connectivity and inclusivity is critical for the industry’s success. We are therefore delighted to collaborate with the Saudi Tourism Authority to look at the future creation of what will be a global index that clearly defines what really constitutes innovation in tourism.”

He noted that countries and regions, who have already expressed an interest in collaborating, included Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Western Australia.

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Business

Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Harvard University economics professor Pol Antràs said Saudi Arabia represents an exceptional model in the shifting global trade landscape, differing fundamentally from traditional emerging-market frameworks. He also stressed that globalization has not ended but has instead re-formed into what he describes as fragmented integration.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Antràs said Saudi Arabia’s Vision-driven structural reforms position the Kingdom to benefit from the ongoing phase of fragmented integration, adding that the country’s strategic focus on logistics transformation and artificial intelligence constitutes a key engine for sustainable growth that extends beyond the volatility of global crises.

Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is one of the leading contemporary theorists of international trade. His research, which reshaped understanding of global value chains, focuses on how firms organize cross-border production and how regulation and technological change influence global trade flows and corporate decision-making.

He said conventional classifications of economies often obscure important structural differences, noting that the term emerging markets groups together countries with widely divergent industrial bases. Economies that depend heavily on manufacturing exports rely critically on market access and trade integration and therefore face stronger competitive pressures from Chinese exports that are increasingly shifting toward alternative markets.

Saudi Arabia, by contrast, exports extensively while facing limited direct competition from China in its primary export commodity, a situation that creates a strategic opportunity. The current environment allows the Kingdom to obtain imports from China at lower cost and access a broader range of goods that previously flowed largely toward the United States market.

Addressing how emerging economies should respond to dumping pressures and rising competition, Antràs said countries should minimize protectionist tendencies and instead position themselves as committed participants in the multilateral trading system, allowing foreign producers to access domestic markets while encouraging domestic firms to expand internationally.

He noted that although Chinese dumping presents concerns for countries with manufacturing sectors that compete directly with Chinese production, the risk is lower for Saudi Arabia because it does not maintain a large manufacturing base that overlaps directly with Chinese exports. Lower-cost imports could benefit Saudi consumers, while targeted policy tools such as credit programs, subsidies, and support for firms seeking to redesign and upgrade business models represent more effective responses than broad protectionist measures.

Globalization has not ended

Antràs said globalization continues but through more complex structures, with trade agreements increasingly negotiated through diverse arrangements rather than relying primarily on multilateral negotiations. Trade deals will continue to be concluded, but they are likely to become more complex, with uncertainty remaining a defining feature of the global trading environment.

Interest rates and artificial intelligence

According to Antràs, high global interest rates, combined with the additional risk premiums faced by emerging markets, are constraining investment, particularly in sectors that require export financing, capital expenditure, and continuous quality upgrading.

However, he noted that elevated interest rates partly reflect expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by artificial intelligence and broader technological transformation.

He also said if those growth expectations materialize, productivity gains could enable small and medium-sized enterprises to forecast demand more accurately and identify previously untapped markets, partially offsetting the negative effects of higher borrowing costs.

Employment concerns and the role of government

The Harvard professor warned that labor markets face a dual challenge stemming from intensified Chinese export competition and accelerating job automation driven by artificial intelligence, developments that could lead to significant disruptions, particularly among younger workers. He said governments must adopt proactive strategies requiring substantial fiscal resources to mitigate near-term labor-market shocks.

According to Antràs, productivity growth remains the central condition for success: if new technologies deliver the anticipated productivity gains, governments will gain the fiscal space needed to compensate affected groups and retrain the workforce, achieving a balance between addressing short-term disruptions and investing in long-term strategic gains.

Business

Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
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Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan stressed Sunday that the world economy is going through a “profound transition,” saying emerging markets and developing economies now account for nearly 60 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power terms and over 70 percent of global growth.

In his opening remarks at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla, the minister said these economies have become an increasingly important driver of global growth with their share of global economy more than doubling since 2010.

“Today, the 10 emerging economies in the G20 alone account for more than half of the world growth. Yet, they face a more complex and fragmented environment, elevated debt levels, slower trade growth and increasing exposure to geopolitical shocks.”

“Unfortunately, more than half of low income countries are either in or at the risk of debt distress. At the same time global trade growth has slowed at around half of what it was pre the pandemic,” Aljadaan added.

The Finance Minister stressed that the Saudi experience over the past decade has reinforced three lessons that may be relevant to the discussions at the two-day conference, which brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics.

“First, macroeconomic stability is not the enemy of growth. It is actually the foundation,” he said.

“Structural reforms deliver results only when institutions deliver. So there is no point of reforming ... if the institutions are unable to deliver,” he stated.

Finally, he said that “international cooperation matters more, not less, in a fragmented world.”

Business

Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday that world growth still lacks pre-pandemic levels, expressing concern as she expected more shocks amid high spending and rising debt levels in many countries.

Georgieva spoke at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla.

The two-day conference brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics to deliberate on policies to global stability, prosperity, and multilateral collaboration.

Georgieva said that the conference was launched last year in recognition of the growing role of emerging market economies in a world of sweeping transformations.

“I came out of this gathering .... With a sense of hope for the pragmatic attitude and determination to pursue good policies and build strong institutions,” she said.

Georgieva stressed that “good policies pay off,” and said that growth rates across emerging economies reached four percent this year, exceeding by a large margin those of advanced economies that are around 1.5 percent.