RIYADH: Community-based accessible tourism is key to achieving sustainable growth in the sector, said a top tourism official at the final session of the Future Hospitality Summit in Riyadh on Tuesday. Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority, was speaking at a panel titled “Fresh Perspectives in Tourism” with Gaurav Sinha, CEO of Insignia Worldwide. Hamidaddin said that tourism is new oil in Saudi Arabia. He said to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its reliance on oil income, the Kingdom launched Vision 2030 plan in 2016 that places significant emphasis on tourism and the involvement of local communities in the development process. “We genuinely believe in the power of tourism for the people,” he added. The top official stressed the importance of expediting efforts to promote the concept of responsible tourism. “We have learned a lot from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he noted. A global study commissioned by IHG showed that COVID-19 increased awareness of responsible travel, with 60 percent of the respondents saying the pandemic has made them more socially and environmentally conscious. Moreover, with the world traveling more locally during the pandemic, consumers are showing an overwhelming appetite to care for the communities around them and choose a hotel brand that operates responsibly. Hamidaddin also pointed out that the Kingdom is seeing huge investments in the tourism and hospitality sector. “We can’t grow without massive investment,” he said. Saudi Arabia is stepping up its efforts to become the vanguard of a UN pledge to develop a sustainable model for tourism. Addressing the UN General Assembly on May 6, 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said lessons about tourism’s vulnerability to sudden, unexpected events must be taken from the pandemic — which cost the sector 62 million jobs worldwide. “COVID-19 highlighted the vulnerability of the sector, not only to pandemics but also to the effects of extreme weather, so addressing climate change must be at the heart of building a more resilient tourism, and there is no resilience without sustainability,” he added.