AccorHotels CEO says tourists in Saudi ‘want to be able to drink’
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Unlike Dubai, tourists are prohibited from drinking in Saudi Arabia.
According to the CEO of AccorHotels, tourists visiting Saudi Arabia will want to be able ‘to drink and enjoy music’.
Sébastien Bazin told Arabian Business that the kingdom will need to exempt tourists from many local rules in order to attract visitors to the country.
AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin
The CEO cited Dubai as an example and attributed the City’s success in attracting millions of tourists to its exemption of tourists from local rules.
“… a destination means people want to live. They want to have fun. They want to be able to enjoy music. They may want to be able to drink. Maybe the [Saudi] government in place will allow it only in certain destinations…NEOM is one of the examples of what they will be exempting from many local rules,” the CEO said.
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“…That has to be in place, otherwise you won’t be attracting tourists. Dubai made it happen, so there are a lot of lessons to be taken from the Middle East,” he added.
Countries like China, Maldives and the UAE have recorded a significant growth in tourism due to some exemptions of local rules enjoyed by tourists. Jetsanza.com published how Tourism has promoted religious freedom. Read full article here.
