The session “Saudi Sustainability: How Media Narrates the Future of Tourism,” part of the Saudi Media Forum 2026, highlights a critical professional question: How can tourism narratives respect the environment and society while reflecting integrated practices that span planning, operations, and the management of environmental and social impact? Moving beyond superficial portrayals, the session examines the responsibility of sustainable media to convey these efforts transparently, building long-term trust grounded in reality.
The discussion deconstructs the concept of “sustainable tourism in Saudi Arabia: from vision to implementation,” translating general definitions into actionable methodologies that shape the tourist experience itself. Under the theme “Operational Sustainability Behind the Scenes: Environment, Security, Transportation, and Logistics as Supporting Elements of the Tourist Experience,” speakers emphasize that the quality of a visit is determined not just by scenery but by systems that protect the environment, regulate traffic, manage resources, and ensure safety and service continuity. This approach repositions media narratives to focus on integrated structures rather than mere promotional campaigns.
On the level of messaging, the session addresses the challenge of “Sustainable Media: How to Tell the Story of Impact Without Exaggeration or Promotion.” Reporting sustainability requires precise language, careful vocabulary, and a balance between inspiration and factual information, ensuring that sustainability is not reduced to a slogan. Discussions will also cover “Media Challenges in Covering Tourism Sustainability” and “Building Trust with the Public Through Transparency and Alignment Between Practice and Message,” highlighting that credibility arises when what is said aligns with measurable, observable action.
Executive leadership is also central to the conversation, with the theme “The Role of Executive Leaders in Transforming Sustainability into a Measurable Daily Practice.” Here, measurement is not merely administrative; it is a shared language enabling media to convey balanced, clear accounts of the impact of tourism operations. When executive leadership and responsible media discourse converge, they produce a confident narrative—one that explains environmental and social effects as clearly as it showcases destinations.
The session will feature Engineer Raed Al-Basit, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Red Sea International. His executive expertise exemplifies the translation of sustainability into operational procedures, providing practical insights on making impacts measurable and narratable without exaggeration.
Held from February 2–4 in Riyadh, the Saudi Media Forum session underscores a key equation: the future of tourism depends on media that accurately reports and listens to the impact. When operational sustainability aligns with responsible narratives, Saudi tourism becomes a story told with professional integrity, grounded in both practice and presentation.
Alexander Jason – Redaksi
