Khalid Alsatti

Senior Project Specialist, Innovation, Education and Investments

Khalid Alsatti works in the Innovation, Education and Investments Department of UN Tourism, the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, where he leads innovation projects across the Middle East. His work focuses on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and the regional startup ecosystem, connecting tourism startups to destinations and public institutions through innovation challenges and startup competitions — the department's flagship instrument, which the organization says has run to more than thirty editions worldwide and drawn in excess of ten thousand startups and innovators. On the policy side he leads implementation of the Riyadh Declaration on the Future of Tourism, unveiled at the organization's 26th General Assembly hosted in Saudi Arabia, translating its commitments into global deliverables for the sector. Before joining the organization, where he has also been described as a senior innovation specialist leading programmes and strategic partnerships, he founded Destination Arabia, a Saudi-based tourism startup that built tailored travel experiences and worked on regional growth. He works regularly with startups, small and medium enterprises and young entrepreneurs across the region, serving as a mentor on the UN Citiverse Challenge and as a panellist and judge for the Startup Den pitch competition at the Future Hospitality Summit in Saudi Arabia, and contributes to international forums on tourism, technology and investment.