Saudi Arabia launches new $530m fund to develop tourism locations

The Saudi Arabia Tourism Development Fund (TDF), in collaboration with Riyad Bank, has launched the Tourism Partners program, which provides funding of up to SR 2 billion to enable the kingdom’s key objectives to be developed.

The program is the first of its kind where the public and private sectors work together against individual performance indicators on each side, ensuring the highest standards of governance to achieve the program’s goals, a statement said.

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TDF launched three products under the program aimed at meeting the funding needs of businesses of all sizes in the private sector and enabling the development of tourism facilities and activities across the Kingdom.

Each product offers a financing value between 1 million and over 100 million SR for mega-projects. The options vary between direct support from TDF and co-financing with Riyad Bank and offer guarantees of up to 90 percent.

Tourism Partners complements the Shareek initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strengthen the role of the private sector in the sustainable growth of the economy.

Qusai Al-Fakhri, CEO of TDF, said: “An attractive investment environment increases the appetite of investors for tourism projects, which in turn drives the tourism sector To achieve goals.

“Through this partnership, TDF is paving the way for private companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities in tourism.”

The program will enable the development of up to 113 tourism projects across the Kingdom, targeting seven goals set out in the National Tourism Strategy.

The 15-year development program that contributes to the 2030 Vision of Saudi Arabia will be implemented in three phases by 2035

Tareq A Al-Sadhan, CEO of Riyad Bank, said: “The tourism partners program aims to further strengthen the kingdom’s position as an investment and business center and the kingdom’s position in terms of the global ease of conducting business rankings improve.”

Riyad Bank Relationship Managers will promote the program to the bank’s customer base to attract the largest private sector investments in value added tourism projects.

The Tourism Development Fund was set up to fuel the growth of the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia in line with the National Tourism Strategy to increase the GDP contribution of the tourism sector from 3 to 10 percent and create 1 million new jobs by 2030.