The Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC), the first multinational coalition created, is preparing to launch a website before the end of the year.

After being announced in 2021 by the Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, as part of the Green Initiative of Saudi Arabia, the Global Center for Sustainable Tourism (STGC) has been working on different actions to create the largest research center in the world. , where through a web portal interested parties will be able to access, including in Spanish, all the information they need for the great transition of the tourism industry to zero net emissions.

The announcement was made by Gloria Guevara Manzo, special advisor in chief of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tourism, in statements to ABC MUNDIAL News. Gloria Guevara is one of the most influential women in tourism.

The first actions imply the launch before the end of this year of a web portal with consolidated information so that small and medium-sized entrepreneurs can document themselves regarding actions to make their businesses more sustainable in their local language, which constitutes one of the largest barriers to encourage this practice. This is in line with the travel intentions of tourists, who, since the pandemic, are also looking for experiences with less and less environmental impact.

The size of the challenge is not minor, since it is estimated that the travel industry generates 8% of the world's carbon emissions.

"For example", explains Gloria Guevara, "the owner of a restaurant may have the tools to measure his carbon footprint and reduce food waste, reduce expenses and also be more sustainable. Through this portal, find out what are the best practices, who has done the same in another part of the world. Also what solutions to implement and that they have all this in the same place and of some that serves to have the complete recipe. Understanding what you have to do, how you do it and where you get it the money".

"This way you will be able to know what are the resources available in the world. So in this portal, which we hope to be able to launch the first stage this year, to be able to offer this free service to small and medium-sized companies around the world. At the same time as whoever uses it I can add information that will help, especially to reduce costs but also to be more sustainable. It will be very good for small and medium-sized businesses, for travelers as well. It will have a lot of information for travelers, for destinations and all that It is part of our strategy that we have been working for a year with different players. While we work on this strategy, we have been working with public organizations," he said.

"The situation cannot wait and we have assessed the priorities to address climate change in the travel industry. With an estimated 8% of the world's carbon emissions produced by the travel industry, the STGC will contribute to actions aimed at a more sustainable world".

Saudi Arabia is spearheading one of the most ambitious goals in the tourism sector: to reduce the emissions generated by the travel industry to zero.

"Based in Riyadh, the Center represents a global coalition that focuses its work on three basic pillars of sustainability: climate, nature and communities. The STGC portal will be focused on stakeholders such as small and medium-sized companies, Youth and travelers, Destinations , Mobility Stakeholders and Large Businesses The Global Center will produce research and tools that will enable businesses, travelers and the next generations to become major players in sustainability."

"This coalition between countries and different players in the sector and experts in climate and the environment will help us speed up the transition not only so that we do not pollute but that every time someone travels it is good for the planet, good for the environment and, well, It's also good for communities and the economy.

STGC web portal

"By the end of the year we are going to launch 10 services, the majority of which are going to be aimed at small and medium-sized companies. They will be related to the problems that we have defined as a priority after a consultation that we carried out with 400 experts in everything, the most important players in the sector, from governments, destinations, climate experts, the environment. All of them asked us, for example, about the potential, the price of food, plastic waste, that this has to do with the environment but also with climate and three pillars that are climate, environment and community".

"This is an initiative of various countries and of various different sectors. The center is going to be in Riyadh and the idea is that by the end of this year we will start with something from the portal. I don't think we have everything ready but the first stage of the portal should be list this year Today we are already working with some experts, for example with experts from Stanford, with Harvard, with MIT, to define some tools that we are going to publish on this portal.The first phase is released at the end of this year and it is important to say that This center, in a first stage, will be funded (financed) by Saudi Arabia. It is like everything, at the beginning it is to define who puts up the resources. This is a gift to our sector because it is a world solution, it is not for Saudi Arabia nothing else".

Saudi Arabia investment in tourism:

Saudi Arabia invested a trillion US dollars in tourism projects.

All the mega projects of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are created with the new standards for the development of sustainable tourism.

Tourism aims to attract 100 million visitors annually by 2030, creating 1 million new jobs, which will contribute 10% of GDP by 2030. It provided for more than $1 trillion in infrastructure projects. 600 thousand hotel rooms to build.

For the construction of NEOM there is an investment of $500 billion. It is a megacity 33 times the size of New York City. The first phase of construction is underway with the gates of the first destination (Sindalah) due to open in 2024

95% of the land and seas of NEOM.

Other projects at NEOM include The Line, Trojena, and Oxagon.

The Red Sea is home to the fourth largest coral reef in the world. The Red Sea Project is determined to be 100% sustainable with a coral reef regeneration project that will benefit other reef destinations.