WTTC Summit Launches From Riyadh Global Tourism Index for Innovation, Future Sustainability

WTTC Summit Launches From Riyadh Global Tourism Index for Innovation, Future Sustainability

The 22nd Global Summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) concluded its work in Riyadh on Wednesday, with an initiative to launch a global tourism index for innovation and future sustainability.

Meanwhile, Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib pointed to the importance of Saudi Arabia on the map of international travel and tourism, indicating that the Kingdom’s embrace of the Global Center for Sustainable Tourism was an important step towards achieving carbon neutrality.

Wildlife

The Saudi Minister of Tourism, and US actor and global philanthropist Edward Norton have donated $1 million each to the Maasai Wildlife Conservation Trust in Kenya, of which Norton will be Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In remarks at the summit, Norton said: “The defining challenge of the 21st Century is adapting our economies and industries to be ecologically sustainable and to put the brakes on global warming.”

Norton emphasized the need to “raise the bar higher on sustainability standards for the tourism industry.”

“I’m enormously grateful for the contribution WTTC and our hosts at the Saudi Ministry of Tourism have made to the critical work of Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. This organization is a shining example of how frontline indigenous communities can build transformative new economic opportunity through wise