In a speech read for him by SCTA Vice President for Investment Salah Al Bakhneer during the 3rd Conference of Hotel Expansion at Riyadh's Al-Faisaliah Hotel, Prince Sultan said that the development of national tourism is a great responsibility that requires united efforts of authorities concerned.

He said the SCTA had developed an integrated program to uplift the sector, covering all the required aspects, such as systems and regulations development, providing necessary information, studies and statistics, providing stimulant investment and facilitating licensing and classification procedures.

“Many results could be seen as signs of the success of this program, the most significant of which are hotel and furnished flats evaluation and classification in accordance with the global standards, securing support from financial institutions, forming an advisory committee for the accommodation sector in which investors and specialists take part, providing a number of marketing tools to help investors to market their products, providing a large amount of specialized information on different aspects of hospitality and are subject to periodic update, providing  specialized training programs for the hotel professions, and  coordinating with different relevant authorities to facilitate procedures and requirements of hotel operation,” he said.