The Saudi National Museum in Riyadh hosted a panel session entitled “The Kingdom’s Natural Beauty: Treasures and Adventures.” It hosted the Kuwaiti engineer and explorer Ali Hussein and the traveler and explorer Muath Al-Awfi. The session began with the two guests discussing the origins of their exploration and travel hobby, which evolved into a quasi-profession of trip planning. This hobby emerged while they were attending college and studying abroad. Ali Hussein mentioned that he specialized in oil drilling and worked in the Alaska region, making him interested in nature’s beauty and exploration. Muath Al-Awfi has spoken about his childhood curiosity and strong desire for adventure and exploration. He went on some trips with his father. After returning from studying abroad, his interests grew. He discovered that many natural and archaeological sites were overlooked despite their stunning beauty and historical significance.

In turn, the two guests underlined that social media contributed greatly to promoting the culture of travel and encouraged users to explore and visit the many sites in the Kingdom. Many sites were not frequented by visitors and tourists for decades, which made them more like pristine sites. The two guests discussed the stages of urbanization that societies went through and how they affected people’s interaction with nature. Lack of awareness of the necessity of preserving wildlife had an adverse impact. There were serious moves taken by governments to prevent these wrong practices. This resulted in the inauguration of many nature reserves and tough laws to preserve their wildlife. Notably, this session comes as part of the programs organized by the National Museum, targeting different segments of society through interactive events. These events include live performances, workshops, dialogue sessions and activities related to national events. The purpose is to provide engaging cultural content as well as an integrated museum experience.