Commission launches online platform to monitor tourism

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has launched an online platform to monitor the performance of tourist activities. “The commission has launched the national platform for tourist monitoring, which is an online platform to monitor the performance of all tourist monitoring activities, including accommodation and tourist movement, something which enables the platform to be an accredited centre for statistics and data related to the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia,” the SCTH media department said on Thursday.

“The commission has set a grace period of 90 days for tourist facilities to complete procedures of connecting to the platform, which will be useful for investors in the first place, through giving them indicators that can help them build development and marketing plans, as well as their promotions that seek to alleviate the seasonal impacts that worsen due to the lack of accurate information,” it said. The platform is in line with the national digital transformation program, a key part of the Saudi Vision 2030, which stresses that advanced digital infrastructure is an integral part of economic activities and represents a basic requirement to boost competitiveness.

This new platform will provide up-to-date statistics and figures on occupancy rates and the level of performance and evaluation for the facilities, and will also help follow up on tourist movement. The platform is also envisioned to contribute to the level of tourist services presented and to stimulate investments in the sector providing accurate and instant data on tourist movement in the Kingdom, in addition to adopting easy and quick access to information and statistics.

This can guarantee accuracy and high quality of data and statistics relating to tourist accommodation facilities. Ahmad Al Khatib, chairman of the board of directors of the SCTH, recommended establishing the platform with the aim of providing accurate and transparent statistical information that can realise benefits for investors and decision-makers. He said that the information was a “compass” through which investments in the tourist sector could be stimulated.

The commission had invited providers of technical administration services at accommodation facilities and other tourist services to apply for applications through the platform link: www. ntmp.gov.sa.