You name it, it had it – the opening of TOURISE 2025, the new global travel platform powered by the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia which kicked off in Riyadh this week.

Poetry, dancers, a rock band, a singer mimicking animal sounds – all against a backdrop of stunning visuals on the most gigantic LED screens I’d ever seen, as well as revolving stages – a first even for CNN’s Richard Quest in his career as television and event host.

It felt more like a concert than a travel conference – and that was its intent.

In pulling off this three-day event, which gathered more than 140 speakers from 10 industries and 8,000 delegates from around the world, including 50 tourism ministers, and mayors, Saudi’s Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al Khateeb says the Kingdom is building something that is “not just a conference” but a year-round platform where private sector-across-industries-meet-governments-and-NGOs to solve “travel ecosystem” problems on a global level.

In his opening, he said, “Back in 2020/2021, we started to think about bringing travel ecosystem players together to discuss and plan how to serve the 1.5 billion people who travelled. Last year, only 20% of the global population travelled –imagine if this number goes to 2.5b and 3b, which it is expected to by 2035 …”

He then urged delegates to “have a vacation” and “have fun”. Outside the massive conference centre, the foyer was decked with massive, curved LED walls promising, “Your Story Starts Here”, drinks and food stands, and in the grounds, a “Nikki Beach” area had been set up where you could sit and sip cool cocktails against a beach backdrop, while a DJ spun music to set the mood for a party.

As I said, more concert/festival vibe than conference.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check out the beach the first day but here are the key takeaways I spun out of the sessions from TOURISE 2025 on November 11.

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