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Saudi Showcases Spectacular Summer Escape at Arabia Travel Market 2024

The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) marked the start of this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by showcasing the Kingdom’s spectacular summer destinations. (SPA)
The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) marked the start of this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by showcasing the Kingdom’s spectacular summer destinations. (SPA)
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Saudi Showcases Spectacular Summer Escape at Arabia Travel Market 2024

The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) marked the start of this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by showcasing the Kingdom’s spectacular summer destinations. (SPA)
The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) marked the start of this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by showcasing the Kingdom’s spectacular summer destinations. (SPA)

The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) marked the start of this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by showcasing the Kingdom’s spectacular summer destinations to trade partners as the country’s tourism sector continues to go from strength to strength, said the Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.
Representatives from Saudi Arabia’s booming tourism ecosystem kicked-off the Middle East’s biggest travel and tourism trade show aiming to build awareness of the kingdom’s unique and diverse summer destination offerings, strengthen and establish new trade partnerships, and celebrate the remarkable year-on-year growth of the Saudi tourism sector.
STA chief executive and board member Fahd Hamidaddin is leading the Saudi delegation of 72 partners from across the tourism sector -- including top destination management companies, hoteliers, and airlines -- to the show that was held in Dubai.
The delegation is aiming to showcase the Kingdom’s distinctive summer destinations to trade partners and consumers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and underline its status as a world-leading year-round tourism destination, with a strategic focus on priority markets like India and China.
Over the summer season, Saudi Arabia offers a unique and diverse range of activities and destinations for visitors, including young families, ranging from the pristine beaches of the Red Sea, the rich culture of Jeddah, and an events program like no other, including the Esports World Cup starting in Riyadh this July.
Saudi’s mountainous regions including the tranquil and picturesque destinations of Aseer, Taif, and Al Baha also provide a refreshing escape during the summer season with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius. These serene retreats are ideal for adventure travelers who seek natural beauty, wildlife, hiking trails, and cool breezes.
"We’re delighted to be back at ATM this year to showcase Saudi as a unique summer destination, offering an action-packed events calendar, cool mountain regions for adventure seekers, and pristine beaches for families and those looking to relax,” STA’s Hamidaddin said.
“The MEA and APAC markets are hugely important in our overarching tourism strategy with a combined 23 million visits last year, and we will be focusing on growing those numbers,” Hamidaddin said.
“Having welcomed over 100m million tourists in 2023, Saudi is the land of now -- offering growth and opportunities like no other to trade partners across the globe. And over the coming days, we look forward to building new long-lasting partnerships, sharing knowledge, and showcasing the wealth of opportunities Saudi has to offer,” Hamidaddin said.
Building on the success of last year’s presence at ATM, where over 50,000 visitors were welcomed at the Saudi stand, this year’s exhibit is set across three floors with partners showcasing hundreds of affordable and luxury bookable products for destinations such as Jeddah, AlUla, Aseer, Riyadh, and the Red Sea.
At ATM, visitors can race a bike through the mountains of Aseer on a virtual simulator, download specially curated Saudi Summer playlists in partnership with Anghami, see an array of football memorabilia at the Saudi Pro League Museum, enjoy live performances of traditional Saudi dancers, and view digital art displays from local artists. The diversity of the Kingdom will also be showcased with an interactive Saudi map and activities calendar.
The stand also showcases the new “Saudi Rewards” scheme, a first-of-its-kind program, offering free nationwide rewards for citizens and visitors to unlock points on tourism, shopping, dining, entertainment, and more. Saudi Rewards currently has a network of 17 partners and will have a dedicated booth at ATM with interactive activations for visitors to enjoy.
On the first day of the event, Hamidaddin participated in a flagship panel event alongside other tourism leaders from the GCC to discuss collaboration and Saudi Arabia’s role in the region’s growing tourism sector.
Popular UAE radio station Dubai Eye also broadcast their afternoon show live from the Saudi booth where they discussed the Kingdom’s summer offering, while trailblazing Indian influencer Masoom Minawala Mehta and world-famous travel influencer brothers, Wael and Nael Abualteen, were on the stand creating content for their social channels.
STA and its partners are aiming to build on the successes of last year’s ATM, where more than 1,600 deals and more than 50 MoUs and strategic agreements were signed – resulting in 35,000 extra visits.
The Kingdom presents trade partners with an unparalleled opportunity for sustained growth. Notably, the country achieved a significant milestone by welcoming 100 million tourists in 2023. Together with partners, STA is building knowledge of Saudi’s destination offerings to consumers to address barriers to destination knowledge and welcome more visitors than ever to the Kingdom.
This boom is continuing in 2024, with the first quarter of the year witnessing a double-digit growth increase in tourists compared to the same period last year -- bolstering Saudi Arabia’s position as a leading global tourism destination and driving progress towards its revised target of 150 million visits by 2030.

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Saudi Team Successfully Separates Moroccan Conjoined Twins

The medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program began the separation surgery for 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins. SPA
The medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program began the separation surgery for 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins. SPA
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Saudi Team Successfully Separates Moroccan Conjoined Twins

The medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program began the separation surgery for 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins. SPA
The medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program began the separation surgery for 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins. SPA

The medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program succeeded on Thursday in separating 13-month-old Moroccan conjoined twins Saja and Doha at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh.

The surgery was in implementation of the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) and head of the medical and surgical team Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah said the twins arrived in the Kingdom on April 24.

The medical team conducted extensive and detailed examinations and held several meetings, determining that the twins were conjoined at the chest and abdomen and shared the membranes surrounding the heart, liver, and intestines.

He earlier noted that the surgery was being performed in six stages over approximately 10 hours, involving 23 consultants, specialists, nurses, and technical staff. He added that the complex procedure has a success rate of more than 70%.

He also noted that this is the fourth separation surgery performed for conjoined twins from Morocco and the 73rd case undertaken by the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, which has cared for 159 sets of twins from 28 countries across five continents since 1990.

Varieties

WWF: Populations of Wild Species Fell by an Average of 73% from 1970 to 2022

FILE PHOTO: A giraffe and zebras walk at a water point at the Amboseli National Park as authorities investigate the deaths of 18 elephants in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem, in Kajiado County, Kenya, August 26, 2026. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A giraffe and zebras walk at a water point at the Amboseli National Park as authorities investigate the deaths of 18 elephants in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem, in Kajiado County, Kenya, August 26, 2026. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
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WWF: Populations of Wild Species Fell by an Average of 73% from 1970 to 2022

FILE PHOTO: A giraffe and zebras walk at a water point at the Amboseli National Park as authorities investigate the deaths of 18 elephants in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem, in Kajiado County, Kenya, August 26, 2026. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A giraffe and zebras walk at a water point at the Amboseli National Park as authorities investigate the deaths of 18 elephants in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem, in Kajiado County, Kenya, August 26, 2026. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo

Nearly 6,000 monitored vertebrate species across more than 35,000 populations declined by an average of 73% from 1970 to 2022, the World Wide Fund for Nature said in its latest Living Planet Report published on Thursday.

The Living Planet Index, managed by the Zoological Society of London and WWF, monitored a total of 35,803 populations covering 5,790 different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish over the 52-year period.

The 2026 Living Planet Report estimates that overall populations fell by an average of around 2.5% per year over the period, Reuters reported.

"Monitored global populations continue to decline ⁠on average with no ⁠evidence yet of that global recovery," said Andrew Terry, chief conservation officer at ZSL.

The average rate of decline across the monitored populations does not represent a headcount of the total number of animals lost from 1970 to 2022, and the number is especially sensitive to changes in already small ⁠populations.

Monitored freshwater species saw an average decline of 85%, while terrestrial species fell 69% and marine species 59%, the index showed.

The steepest average population declines were in South America, at 95%, with Africa also experiencing losses of 80% from 1970 to 2022.

The 2026 Living Planet report incorporated an additional 295 species and 967 populations across a longer time series compared to the last report in 2024.

The additional data "reinforces our confidence in the continued decline in biodiversity," Terry told ⁠a briefing.

⁠Habitat loss and degradation were the most frequently reported threat, but wildlife populations are also at risk from overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species and disease, the report said.

"Amid these steep declines, there are grounds for hope, rooted in evidence. Wildlife populations are under pressure but recovery is in reach," said Kirsten Schuijt, WWF's director general.

Targeted conservation efforts have enabled populations of some species to recover, including tigers, Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna, southern African elephants and green sea turtles.

Alongside conservation efforts, changes in the energy, food and finance systems are required to halt nature loss, Schuijt said.

Varieties

A 194-year-old Tortoise, World's Oldest Land Animal, May Hold Clues to Longer Life

Tortoise named Jonathan, a giant tortoise believed to be the world's oldest known living land animal, stands in front of Plantation House, in St Paul on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, January 6, 2013. Joe Hollins/Handout via REUTERS
Tortoise named Jonathan, a giant tortoise believed to be the world's oldest known living land animal, stands in front of Plantation House, in St Paul on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, January 6, 2013. Joe Hollins/Handout via REUTERS
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A 194-year-old Tortoise, World's Oldest Land Animal, May Hold Clues to Longer Life

Tortoise named Jonathan, a giant tortoise believed to be the world's oldest known living land animal, stands in front of Plantation House, in St Paul on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, January 6, 2013. Joe Hollins/Handout via REUTERS
Tortoise named Jonathan, a giant tortoise believed to be the world's oldest known living land animal, stands in front of Plantation House, in St Paul on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, January 6, 2013. Joe Hollins/Handout via REUTERS

The world's oldest-known terrestrial animal, an Aldabra giant tortoise named Jonathan and estimated to be about 194 years old, may owe his extraordinary longevity to a combination of genetic traits and an ability to keep key cellular systems functioning in a more youthful way, according to scientists.

Members of this species are known to live more than 100 years, but Jonathan has far exceeded that. Brought to the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena as a fully grown animal in 1882, likely from the Aldabra Atoll or the Granitic Seychelles, the tortoise now resides in a paddock at Plantation House, the governor's residence.

"Other Aldabra tortoises have been claimed to have lived as long as Jonathan, but he has the most documentary evidence supporting his age," said Benjamin Vaisvil, a researcher affiliated with the organization Kallel and co-lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Scientists have studied Jonathan to explore the secrets of the animal's amazing longevity, sequencing his genome and analyzing his epigenome — the chemical markers that control which genes switch on and off.

"We found changes in Jonathan's genome in pathways associated with longevity, like DNA repair, mitochondrial function, insulin regulation and telomere function," ⁠Reuters quoted Vaisvil as saying.

Mitochondria are structures ⁠considered the powerhouse of a cell. Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate levels of blood sugar by letting it enter the body's cells for energy. Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, structures that carry genetic information inside cell nuclei.

Researchers compared Jonathan's epigenome with four other Aldabra tortoises, ranging from juveniles to older adults. While pretending to feed Jonathan, they waited until he began biting the air, then wedged his mouth open with a gloved hand and scraped under his tongue with a specialized kit. St Helena officials restrict blood draws to prevent infection risks.

To explain the finding, Vaisvil compared the genome to a cookbook and the epigenome to handwritten notes in the margins.

"As the cookbook ages, those notes become ⁠more difficult to read clearly. We can think of that as methylation entropy," Vaisvil said, referring to a metric for disorder in a certain biochemical process.

Most of the notes in Jonathan's "cookbook" look very old. But in certain regions, stretches of DNA that act as switches controlling whether genes are turned on or off, Jonathan's methylation entropy was lower than that of every tortoise studied except a 5-year-old juvenile. These regions controlled genes that influence longevity.

The researchers identified 287 genes with variants unique to Jonathan, including some linked to tumor suppression and DNA repair. The tortoise also carries extra copies of a gene that encodes a protein that hunts down ageing and cancerous cells.

When younger, Jonathan was known for mischievous antics including overturning chairs and lying on croquet balls, according to the tortoise's longtime veterinarian and study co-author Joe Hollins. Cataracts have since left him mostly blind. Hollins describes Jonathan today as "a gentle giant."

Determining how long giant tortoises can live is challenging because reliable historical records are scarce and many outlive researchers. Record-keeping before the 20th century also was problematic. While a young tortoise's age can be estimated from growth ⁠rings on the plates that form ⁠the animal's shell, ascertaining the age of adults is more difficult.

The new study involved only one exceptionally old tortoise, making it hard to determine whether the traits identified are unique to Jonathan or common among long-lived tortoises.

"We cannot say for certain that what we found is the reason for his longevity," Vaisvil said.

Environmental factors also may have contributed. Jonathan lives on a tropical island, with an optimal diet carefully managed by trained veterinarians.

The research findings broadly match patterns documented in studies of exceptionally long-lived people, suggesting that some mechanisms of aging may be shared across species.

Vaisvil noted that a recent study of a 117-year-old woman found unusually efficient mitochondrial function, echoing findings in some of Jonathan's regions.

Despite his age, Jonathan retains a voracious appetite, Hollins said, lifting his head and stretching out his long neck when the veterinarian calls out his name.

"I know he knows me, knows my voice and my handling, and I also know it isn't love on his part but a recognition of the arrival of a feast," Hollins said. "And yet I, of course, don't mind. I have a huge affection for him."

"He is a remarkable symbol. Icon, I know, is an overused word, but Guinness World Records has just given him 'icon' status this year," Hollins said.

Beloved by island residents, Jonathan has lived through world wars and the rise and fall of empires.

"He is symbolic of resilience, longevity, endurance, a persistent presence throughout huge historic events," Hollins said.