France to help Saudi Arabia develop tourism

Saudi Arabia and France are working in tandem on the development of tourism in the Kingdom. The two countries have agreed to cooperate more in imparting training to Saudi youth and explore areas for Saudi-French joint teams to engage in archaeological excavations.

Earlier this year, a joint team of Saudi-French archaeologists, carrying out excavations on historical sites in Al-Kharj, discovered heritage artifacts belonging to the Stone and Bronze ages, and the Abbasid era, a major breakthrough for the promotion of heritage tourism in the Riyadh region.

The new French ambassador in Riyadh, François Gouyette, met Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) here and reviewed cooperation between the two friendly countries, an SCTNH official said Friday.

Prince Sultan also met the founder of the French Accor Group, Gerhard Pils, and Accor Group President and General Manager Alan Xuan. Accor Group runs hotels.

“They reviewed cooperation in various areas including the development of tourism products, qualifying human resources via professional training in the areas of hospitality, and exploring the areas of Saudi-French joint teams engaged in the archaeological explorations in the Kingdom,” the SCTNH media department said.

During the meeting, Prince Sultan also stressed the keenness of the tourism commission to support investors, operators and hoteliers and provide all facilities to international hotel companies to enter the Saudi market after the SCTNH's efforts to regulate the hotel sector.

This includes classification of the sector for the benefit of citizens and consumers of tourism services by raising the quality of services and reducing costs, as well as providing more job opportunities for citizens.

Prince Sultan also referred to the benefits from the Accor Academy’s experience in France, in the area of training for Saudi youth, and expressed his appreciation to Accor Group for helping in the country in nationalizing the tourism sector.

The Accor Group founder also stressed the importance of the Saudi market and his keenness to work with the SCTNH to develop the tourist experience based on excellence and the originality represented by each Saudi province.