More than 170 speakers and participants from 80 countries are slated to discuss the future of the hospitality industry RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will discuss tourism investment potential at the International Hospitality Investment Forum 2021 held in Berlin from Sept. 1 to 3. The IHIF is hosting more than 170 speakers and participants from 80 countries to discuss the future of the hospitality industry. The Saudi Ministry of Tourism is attending to acquaint the world with the development and growth of the industry in the Kingdom. It will familiarize investors with development projects and investment opportunities offered by the Kingdom. Mahmoud Abdulhadi, deputy minister for investment attraction at the ministry, will take part in a panel titled “Championing sustainable growth,” which will focus on the Kingdom’s efforts in creating a sustainable tourism market that combines balanced development projects and maintaining the environment and natural resources. FASTFACT 100 Million Saudi Arabia aims to increase the number of tourists to 100 million by 2030, and increase tourism from 3 to 10 percent of the gross domestic product. There are diversified investment opportunities available for local and foreign investors, and once they are invested, the investor becomes a direct partner in developing the emerging international tourism sector, being the biggest untapped tourist attraction area in the world and the incubator for the biggest tourist projects,” Abdulhadi said. “Saudi Arabia is offering huge investment opportunities.” He added that the forum will be an opportunity to communicate with the pioneers of the industry and shed light on the efforts exerted by the Kingdom during the pandemic, including “the strategy of the preparedness and development of tourist attraction, as part of its preparations to resume receiving foreign tourists.” The Kingdom, in its pavilion at the forum, will be represented by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Investment and major Saudi projects under the umbrella of Invest Saudi, the government sponsor of the forum. Dr. Osama Ghanem Al-Obaidy, a professor at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, told Arab News that the Berlin forum will shed light on the megaprojects relating to Saudi Vision 2030 and will “allow investors to identify the facilitations and incentives offered by the Kingdom.” Feroz Khan, vice president of sales in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for Webbeds, a leading accommodation supplier to the travel industry, told Arab News that the Kingdom could be one of the great travel destinations in the Middle East.