Saudi Arabia forged strategic partnerships and showcased the latest tourism opportunities at the World Travel Market (WTM) London (November 6-8) where it participated with more than 75 Saudi partners including key DMOs, DMCs, hotels, tour operators, airlines, cruise companies and more – a 48% increase on last year and its largest-ever delegation.

This year, Saudi announced an all-new and first-of-its-kind two-year partnership with RX Global –following a formal signing at the closure of WTM London – which will see Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) become the first-ever ‘Global Travel Partner’ of the WTM tradeshow events.

The collaboration is scheduled to include new promotional activities to inspire visits to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Pavilion was opened by Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Saudi Arabia, alongside Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO and Member of the Board, STA.

Across the three-day event, thousands of attendees were welcomed to the Saudi pavilion to explore the diversity of Saudi’s growing destination.

Coinciding with WTM London was the 22nd annual Wanderlust Travel Awards. Saudi was awarded ‘Most Desirable Emerging Destination’ – as voted for by almost 90,000 readers – at the 22nd annual Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards held at the Natural History Museum on 7 November.

Saudi’s WTM plans included a dedicated investment hub run by the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Development Fund, which offered in-depth information for trade from open-source marketing material to a business directory, analytics and insights, and the opportunity to seamlessly register as trade partners using a QR code.

Throughout the event, Saudi signed 18 MoUs in total with world-leading organisations to help Saudi elevate its tourism offering and provide trade partners with unmatched opportunities, including with Tripadvisor, Mastercard, Dida Travel and Destinia. – TradeArabia News Service