8:30AM
Welcome tea and coffee available
Welcome tea and coffee available
09:00AM
Welcome to the Tourism Recovery Summit
Honorable Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism & Wildlife, Kenya
09:10AM
Keynote speech
H.E. Ahmed Alkhateeb, Minister of Tourism, Saudi Arabia & Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development
09:20AM
Keynote speech
Honorable Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica & Governor of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.
09:30AM
The recovery of African Tourism
Africa’s tourism industry has been hit hard by COVID-19, with almost all international tourism grinding to a halt at the height of the pandemic in 2020. UNCTAD estimates this could cause a loss of more than $4 trillion to global GDP in 2020 and 2021. Demand is not expected to return to pre-COVID levels before 2023. In the wider context of declining
economic security as a result of the pandemic, it is vital that both public and private sector
stakeholders understand the role they can play in supporting the recovery of the tourism sector.
10:15AM
Partnership for African tourism – a role for Saudi Arabia?
As the biggest investor in tourism globally, Saudi Arabia plays a vital role in supporting
tourism strategies globally. The Kingdom is focused on prioritizing collaboration, innovation and sustainability across
the sector. This session will focus on key learnings from Saudi’s experiences as both an emerging place-maker and as a tourism investor and will provide a view on how Saudi Arabia can work
with the tourism leaders across Africa to maintain momentum towards establishing sustainable, innovative, and thriving tourism industries.
11:00AM
Morning coffee break
Morning coffee break
11:20AM
Saudi Arabia – Kenya Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony
Honorable Najib Balala and H.E. Ahmed Alkhateeb
11:30AM
The Nairobi Action Plan
Emerging markets around the world rely heavily on tourism to boost GDP and
economic growth. Africa offers untold potential when it comes to the tourism sector. At the same time, the continent has the fastest growing economy globally. The Nairobi Action Plan intends to establish a mechanism for future collaboration and knowledge exchange between the leaders of the African tourism industry, and
Saudi Arabia, and prioritizes emerging market solutions to the challenges the industry
faces in this new world of tourism. This session will call upon contributions from all attending Ministers and will be led by 6 Sherpas representing North, East, South, Central, and West Africa, as well as Saudi
Arabia.
12:40PM
Closing remarks
H.E. Ahmed Alkhateeb, Minister of Tourism, Saudi Arabia & Chairman
of the Saudi Fund for Development.
12:45PM
Lunch
LUNCH
13:45PM
Bilateral meetings with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Tea and coffee available
