SAUDI ARABIA ON TRACK TO WELCOME 100 MILLION VISITORS PER YEAR BY 2030

Saudi Arabia’s total of foreign and domestic tourists reached a staggering 93.5 million during the year 2022, with the kingdom on track to reach its target of 100 million annual visitors by the end of this decade. Tourism spending in the kingdom also surged 93 per cent, hitting US$49 billion.

Reviewing the tourism industry’s achievements during 2022, it was revealed that the direct contribution of the sector to the kingdom’s gross domestic product amounted to 3.2 per cent of the total target of 10 per cent by 2030. Moreover, the number of jobs reached 880,000 during the year, reflecting an increase of 15 per cent, when compared to the previous year.

Figures released by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) show that Saudi Arabia attracted more than 18 million inbound visits in the first three quarters of 2022, followed by the UAE (14.8 million tourists) and

Morocco (11 million tourists), which ranked second and third in the region, respectively. Also, during the same period, Saudi Arabia registered more international arrivals than any other Arab nation. These rising figures are a testimony to the kingdom’s ever-growing tourism sector and its commitment to developing world-class destinations within the diverse Saudi landscape.