Between November 7 to 11, 2025, Saudi Arabia will host the United Nations Tourism General Assembly for the 26th time in Riyadh under the theme “AI-Powered Tourism: Redefining the Future.” The event will bring together representatives of over 160 nations, international organizations, and major tourism stakeholders. It will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UN Tourism body, which will feature global cooperation and sustainability.
At face value, this appears to be progress. A nation embracing modern tourism, global cooperation, and innovation. But behind the well-rehearsed speeches and PowerPoint presentations is a deliberate public relations tactic. This event is not merely tourism diplomacy for Saudi Arabia; it’s a trial run at world image rehabilitation, a warm-up for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which the Kingdom will utilize to sanitize its human rights reputation on an even bigger stage.
Tourism Diplomacy as a PR Tool
Having a UN-related summit hosted in Saudi Arabia gives the country something it has been looking for a long time: legitimacy. With the Kingdom welcoming thousands of foreign guests, it attempts to present itself as open, modern, and reform-minded.
But behind this story is a discomfiting truth. The Saudi regime is still silencing activists, executing dissidents, and oppressing women’s rights defenders, while it glosses over its international image through tourism and sports. In framing itself as a center of “AI-powered” and “sustainable” tourism, the government is not reimagining the future; it’s rewriting its public persona.
This UN Tourism conference is just a part of a larger trend. The same regime that puts peaceful critics behind bars is now hosting international conferences on cooperation and sustainability. It’s a trend of Heritagewashing and sportswashing, using culture, tourism, and sport to cover up systemic repression.
The Reality Under the Glitter
Saudi Arabia’s attempt at reform crumbles under examination. The new reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch unveil a bleak reality:
- Crackdowns on freedom of speech: At least 39 Journalists, authors, and social media activists have been jailed or given decades in prison for speaking out against the government’s policies.
- Exploitation of migrant workers: Despite modest reforms, most migrant workers continue to be subjected to forced labor. Moreover, 85 workers for theft of wages, and hazardous working conditions.
- Record executions: Saudi Arabia was one of the world’s highest executing countries in 2024, frequently executing individuals for non-violent offenses.
- Gender repression: Women’s rights activists who agitated for simple freedoms are still harassed, tracked, or imprisoned.
In the meantime, the Public Investment Fund, which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, invests billions in sports, entertainment, and tourism endeavors aimed at remodeling the nation’s international reputation while keeping tight control locally.
The contrast could not be more stark: a technologically advanced tourism summit to commemorate “AI and sustainability” by a government that censors, monitors, and represses dissent.
Why This Matters for FIFA 2034?
Saudi Arabia’s tourism summit is not a one-off; it’s a calculated stepping stone. The Kingdom is constructing its international credibility brick by brick through large-scale events that legitimize its image. Every successful global event brings it closer to asserting that it is a “responsible global partner,” mollifying criticism ahead of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Just as the UN Tourism Assembly will allow Saudi Arabia to project itself as a leader in sustainable tourism, FIFA 2034 will let it sell itself as an emblem of world unity and fair play. But the same structures of abuse that taint its tourism sector are already evident in its preparations for the World Cup.
Amnesty International denounced FIFA’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid as a “whitewash” that disregarded grave threats to human rights, migrant workers, and freedom of the press. Human Rights Watch also cautioned that the Kingdom’s record is not compatible with FIFA’s own human rights policies.
These threats are not abstract. Following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, thousands of migrant workers were found dead as a result of unsafe work conditions. Human rights groups are worried that history will repeat itself, on an even greater scale, in Saudi Arabia, where there is even less transparency and press freedom.
A Pattern of Global Complicity
Saudi Arabia’s capacity to host international summits, expos, and now the FIFA World Cup is not merely a national ambition. It is evidence of a more profound issue — the complicity of international institutions.
When the United Nations Tourism Organization holds its event in Riyadh, what it is telling the world is that investment and influence trump human rights. When FIFA gives the 2034 World Cup to a nation with a documented history of repression, it sends the same message: politics and profit come before principle.
By accepting Saudi hospitality without responsibility, these groups become tools in the Kingdom’s bid to clean up its image. They give a veneer of legitimacy to an authoritarian regime that remains to imprison, gag, and execute its critics.
AI, Innovation, and the Illusion of Progress
The 2025 UN Tourism Assembly’s theme — “AI-Powered Tourism: Redefining the Future” — is representative of the Saudi government’s larger strategy. It employs language and digital themes that sound in the future to rebrand itself as an up-to-date, progressive country.
But true change that the nation requires can be fueled by artificial intelligence — it needs human rights, transparency, and accountability. A country that jails bloggers and tracks women’s steps cannot say it is remaking the future. It is just programming repression into new stories.
The risk of such events is that they divert the world’s attention away from the victims. The more that Saudi Arabia hosts high-profile international conferences, the simpler it is for world leaders to dismiss its abuses and get caught up in the facade of reform.
The Road to 2034: Whitewashing in Stages
Saudi Arabia’s strategy is clear:
- Host international institutions — from the UN Tourism Assembly to worldwide business forums — to gain credibility.
- Rebrand authoritarianism in the language of innovation, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.
- Leverage that legitimacy to protect the regime from scrutiny as it gears up for the largest public-relations spectacle of its lifetime: hosting the FIFA 2034 World Cup.
Every step dissolves the distinction between reform and propaganda. Every headline of “AI innovation” or “sustainable tourism” buries the news of jailed activists and exploited workers.
The Global Call: Boycott Saudi 2034
While the world is applauding Saudi Arabia’s tourism diplomacy, it needs to face facts: such events are not manifestations of reform, but dress rehearsals for image management.
Global institutions have a choice between complicity and conscience. The UN cannot hail sustainable tourism in a nation that muffles dissent. FIFA cannot speak of “the spirit of the game” without regard to human anguish behind the making of stadiums.