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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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
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
MILAN (AP) — At the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, winning medals isn’t the only thing making hearts swell. From the ice rinks to the snowy hills, love is in the frozen air.
Some competitions already seem to have Cupid in attendance.
Dutch skater Jutta Leerdam set an Olympic record in the 1000-meter race, then turned to find her fiancé Jake Paul in the stands; both visibly weeping, they made heart signs to one another with their hands. And downhill skiing champion Breezy Johnson ’s longtime boyfriend proposed to her near the finish line Thursday while surrounded by members of the U.S. Ski Team.
Valentine's Day for athletes and attendees at the Games doesn't usually mean grand gestures, but it's no less special.
Valentine’s Day is the finals for the women’s skeleton event. That means that Kim Meylemans of Belgium and Nicole Rocha Silveira of Brazil — an international couple who play for their separate national teams — will be too busy for a romantic dinner. They told The Associated Press they didn’t even bring gifts to exchange.
But since they are together all the time, “It’s always a bit of a Valentine's Day," Meylemans said. “It is part of our sport every day, our love.”
The two feel fortunate their national Olympic committees arranged for them to bunk together at Cortina's Olympic village, since typically only teammates share housing. Half their room is decorated for Belgium, the other half Brazil.
Rocha Silveira was new to the sport in 2019 when Meylemans was already competing in World Cup races. They fell in love during the pandemic while sharing short-term rentals, since many hotels closed.
Fast forward to 2024, and they unknowingly bought identical engagement rings and planned proposals for the same boat trip in Brazil while on vacation. They married last August.
When they compete, they high-five and kiss before each run, wishing the other well.
“It doesn’t matter which one is on the podium. At the end of the day, it’s a victory for our team," Meylemans said.
Rocha Silveira said it’s important their relationship appears during these Games in Italy, where same-sex marriages aren't recognized and only married heterosexual couples are allowed to jointly adopt.
It’s a great place to “show it even more,” and “encourage and inspire people that they can be themselves,” she said.
Lori and Curtis Brown have been married for over 30 years and will be spend Valentine's Day at the skating arena where they are volunteering for this year’s Winter Olympics.
About 18,000 volunteers are spread across the venues in northern Italy — a sea of navy blue uniforms keeping the Olympics running around the clock, with duties such as giving directions, accompanying athletes to venues, crowd control and medical support.
Curtis, 60, said neither of them had realized they were scheduled to work. Now, they're hoping they can coincide their breaks to have dinner together, perhaps surrounded by the rest of the volunteers, he joked.
“This is the most special Valentine’s Day of our lives,” Curtis said. “Because we’re both here, we’re both on the same page, we’re both enjoying this adventure together.”
While presents are neither’s love language, Lori, 61, told the AP she bought boxer briefs from the official Milan Cortina souvenir store. Curtis hadn’t bought anything for her.
“It’s not so much about gift giving, just going out and doing something together,” said Lori, 61. She spoke while sitting beside Curtis, so perhaps she’ll be surprised on Saturday.
Canadian hockey forward Laura Stacey and her wife, team captain Marie-Philip Poulin, have a different kind of date: playing Germany's team in the quarterfinals in Milan.
“We have a game, we have a big game, so spending it together. We’re pretty lucky,” Stacey said. “Most people don’t get to do what they love, chasing their dreams together, and we do. So I think on February 14th, I think it’s important for us to just appreciate that and not take it for granted."
Aside from taking on Germany, they don't have plans — but Stacey said they will surely at least give each other cards.
Many other couples are at the Olympics, some teammates and others competing against each other.
— U.S. alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin — that sport’s all-time wins leader — is engaged to Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who returned to racing this season after dealing with major injuries.
— Latvia’s luge team includes the husband-and-wife pair of Martins Bots and Elina Bota, both single sliders.
— Italy’s luge team Dominik Fischnaller and the U.S.'s Emily Sweeney married last year after dating for almost 15 years.
— U.S. bobsledding has a power couple with reigning women’s monobloc world champion Kaysha Love engaged to men’s push athlete Hunter Powell. She’s in the Olympics for the second time, while he's making his debut.
— American figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates were married in 2024 and won a silver medal on Wednesday.
—Curling may have the most well-known couples of any sport. Norway’s Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien have been together since 2008 and won bronze in Pyeongchang. Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant of Canada married in 2022 and were favorites this year. There are Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwalller-Huerlimann, too; they brought their baby and photos of him carrying a curling broom twice his size went viral.
He looked like a curling Cupid.
Associated Press writers Jennifer McDermott in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy and John Wawrow in Milan contributed to this report.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, right, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira, left, embrace at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, left, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira react, at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Brasil's Nicole Rocha Silveira arrives at the finish during a women's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans starts for a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Belgium's Kim Meylemans, left, and Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira react, at the finish during a women's skeleton run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
