UNWTO Regional Office for the Middle East will be established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and will serve 13 countries. The office will focus on building long-term growth for the sector and human capital development in the travel and tourism sector in the region. The office will also include a Statistics Center whose objective is to become the leading authority on tourism statistics for the region. The announcement comes as a result of a long-standing partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and the UNWTO.