The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is scheduled for the first time to host the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit, in its 22nd session, between November 28 and December 1, where it will physically attract leaders of the tourism sector and its sessions will be seen and attended by several interested people from across the world through augmented reality on Metaverse. Via the summit's live broadcast through Metaverse, attendees will have the opportunity to watch and interact with the discussion panels, exactly as they take place on the stage of WTTC, which enables interested investors around the world to discover opportunities to invest and participate in many sessions that will be broadcast live from Riyadh. The viewing experience was designed in an attractive and easy-to-use way, where Metaverse, through augmented reality, supports an innovative approach for the interaction of physically and virtually attending participants. Attendees can create their own avatar, watch available live sessions and schedule appointments with exhibitors at the summit. Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Khatib said that the WTTC Global Summit is held in Riyadh as the tourism sector enters a new era of prosperity, where the summit will bring together global leaders from both the public and private sectors, serving as a cornerstone for building a better and bright future that the sector deserves. Under the theme "Travel for a Better Future", senior officials and sector leading personnel will meet in Riyadh, including former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, in multiple sessions to discuss future challenges that affect the travel and tourism sector in the post-COVID-19 pandemic. This global gathering of tourism experts at WTTC's Global Summit will also contribute to boosting the value of cooperation among countries and organizations in creating an inspiring and innovative sector for a sustainable future for tourism. The use of Metaverse at the summit is a real example of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's three-year digital tourism strategy that it launched early this year, as a key step to the development of the sector. The strategy includes a number of programs and initiatives to develop a smart work environment that supports the digital transformation journey in the sector, in a bid to benefit the tourism system, and thus enabling technology to provide excellent service with high-level preventive measures for millions of pilgrims visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia annually. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has already embarked on investing in tourism projects that promote innovation, most notably the Saudi dream city project of NEOM, which has become the most ambitious tourism project in the world, as this future city, being developed in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will be a global exhibition of pioneering design, exciting digital experiences, smart cities and research fields. It is worth mentioning that WTTC Global Summit is one of the most influential events in the travel and tourism sector, and those willing to attend can choose to join via Metaverse or on the live stream through: https://metaverse.globalsummitriyadh.com/.
