Nearly 8,000 delegates are gathering in Riyadh for the first TOURISE Summit, a three-day event positioned as a new global platform for the tourism industry. Held from November 11–13, 2025, and opening immediately after the 50th UN Tourism General Assembly, the summit aims to rethink how governments, private-sector players, and adjacent industries work together at a time when travel demand has not only recovered but exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The event opened under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman and was inaugurated by H.E. Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism and Chairman of TOURISE.
The premise behind TOURISE is straightforward: the tourism sector is expanding rapidly, but it is also confronting structural challenges that require more coordinated action. In his remarks, Al Khateeb highlighted the unusual mix of tailwinds and risks shaping the next era of global travel. Demand is strong and investment is returning, yet the industry is grappling with technological disruption, growing expectations for sustainability, pressure on infrastructure, a widening skills gap, and economic and environmental volatility. Against that backdrop, he described TOURISE as an action-oriented space intended to cut across fragmented silos and encourage collaboration rather than competition.
The summit brings together 140 speakers from across aviation, hospitality, technology, urban development, finance, and government. The lineup includes Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin, Amadeus CEO Luis Maroto, Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, Kayak co-founder Steve Hafner, and Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais, who is set to become UN Tourism’s next Secretary General. The diversity of sectors represented is part of TOURISE’s pitch: that the future of tourism will be shaped not just by traditional travel stakeholders but by companies and institutions whose decisions increasingly influence mobility, consumer behavior, and destination development.
Programming across the three days spans ministerial dialogues, boardroom discussions, main-stage talks, and innovation showcases, with topics covering a wide range of forthcoming pressures on the sector. These include artificial intelligence and its impact on trip planning and on-the-ground services, the push for more efficient border and visa systems, new investment models for destinations, and strategies for appealing to a younger, more experience-driven generation of travelers. The summit also introduces the first TOURISE Awards, recognizing destinations that have shown measurable progress in meeting evolving traveler expectations.
TOURISE is designed as more than an annual gathering. Backed by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, the initiative is intended to function as a continuous platform for cross-sector collaboration. Organizers emphasize that outcomes from Riyadh are meant to carry forward through year-round working groups and partnerships, with the goal of turning broad themes—like sustainability, digital transformation, and workforce development—into practical frameworks for the next phase of global tourism.
