TOURISE Reframes Tourism Sector as Global Powerhouse on a Path to $16 Trillion During Davos

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DAVOS, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 23, 2026--

TOURISE advanced tourism’s role as a vital sector connecting industries, economies, and regions to address shared global challenges at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

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His Excellency Ahmed Al‑Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of TOURISE, convenes executives from Trip.com, Visa, TikTok, PayPal, Salesforce, Forbes, Avolta, ByteDance, and more at Davos 2026

Often overlooked as a siloed industry, TOURISE pressed the importance of tourism being recognized as a strategic sector, contributing one in every $10 to global GDP and uplifting every industry it touches.

His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of TOURISE said alliances and collaboration across sectors will see tourism continue to rise.

“Tourism is more than a lifestyle sector, it functions as a strategic economic system. TOURISE serves as a platform where leaders form alliances to build shared solutions, where technology aligns with community development, finance with sustainability, and education with mobility. These partnerships will shape the next decade of tourism, creating trust and shared purpose to move the world forward.”

During the World Economic Forum in Davos, TOURISE hosted and participated in several key engagements, including Reshaping Tourism: A World of Possibility at Axios House, where His Excellency Al Khateeb joined global leaders to discuss tourism’s expanding strategic relevance amid economic transformation and shifting geopolitical dynamics.

Two strategic workshops anchored TOURISE’s Davos program. ‘ Can Tourism Save the World?’ convened senior leaders from across the tourism ecosystem and connecting sectors to examine how tourism can contribute to economic resilience and sustainable development. The session will inform TOURISE’s year-round agenda and the 2027 summit.

The second workshop, ‘ Agentic Tourism: From Insight to Action’, brought together global executives, technologists, and investors to explore tourism’s next frontier. Building on the Agentic Tourism Initiative launched at the Summit in November, the session advanced the development of an Agentic Tourism Protocol, a shared framework designed to enable safe, connected, and interoperable AI systems across the tourism sector.

Leaders and executives from Trip.com, Visa, TikTok, PayPal, Salesforce, Forbes, Avolta, ByteDance, and others participated in the TOURISE workshops, underscoring the breadth of industries now engaging with tourism as a platform for growth and innovation.

TOURISE also sponsored the annual Women Leaders Reception alongside Adecco Group, Pinterest, Bayer, and APCO. During the reception, TOURISE Advisory Board Member and Saudi Arabia Ministry of Tourism Deputy Minister of International Affairs, Hawazen Nassief, spoke to attendees to underscore the need to advance women into leadership roles across a sector where women represent nearly half of the global workforce.

Davos marked the start of TOURISE’s 2026 global calendar, which will include cross-sector workshops, industry insight reports, and new partnerships designed to propel tourism to the center of global transformation.

The future of tourism is being shaped now. Join the journey at tourise.com and be part of the next chapter at the next TOURISE Summit in March 2027.

TOURISE is the world’s premier platform shaping a new horizon for global tourism.

Under the umbrella of the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, the inaugural TOURISE Summit took place in November 2025 in Riyadh, bringing together global leaders to accelerate transformative deals and chart the sector’s future.

As a year‑round platform, TOURISE drives coordinated action across innovation, mobility, culture, and investment. Throughout 2026, leading into its second Summit in March 2027, TOURISE will expand its global community, launch insight reports, and advance its initiatives that turn bold ideas into real‑world solutions.

Together, we can shape the next 50 years of tourism. For more information, visit www.tourise.com

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KEYWORD: EUROPE SWITZERLAND SAUDI ARABIA MIDDLE EAST

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FINANCE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OTHER TRAVEL TRANSPORTATION LODGING TOURIST ATTRACTIONS DESTINATIONS VACATION TRAVEL

SOURCE: TOURISE

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PUB: 01/23/2026 06:22 PM/DISC: 01/23/2026 06:22 PM

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