Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry has set its target to attract 100 million visitors as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program, which aims to diversify the country’s economy. In 2022, the Kingdom recorded 77 million domestic travellers and 16.5 million international visitors, totalling 93.5 million visitors. The CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), Fahd Hamidaddin, announced at the Arabian Travel Market that the target would be increased since it had almost been reached eight years ahead of schedule. He mentioned that the target was too low and would increase since domestic tourism had responded well. He also stated that international visitors would become more adventurous and explore beyond Jeddah and Riyadh, indicating a need for increased accommodation.
Hamidaddin expressed that he would like to see 60% of tourism come from international visits. Saudi Arabia is planning to add 315,000 hotel rooms by 2030, surpassing the current 140,000 hotel rooms available in Dubai. According to Knight Frank, a global property consultancy, the rapid expansion of hospitality-linked offerings throughout the country is significant in boosting domestic tourism, which it forecasts will form a key part of the future of the Kingdom’s hospitality landscape.
“TOURISM IS THE NEW OIL”
In addition, Hamidaddin mentioned that the industry needs to incorporate other offerings such as luxury glamping sites and youth hostels to cater to an increasingly important segment of the market. Saudi Arabia is on the verge of becoming one of the world’s significant tourist markets, with giga-projects such as NEOM leading the supply pipeline. Hamidaddin said the pandemic was a turning point to showcase KSA’s new luxury supply, and wealthy travellers discovered Saudi Arabia by force during the pandemic and then by choice.
Tourism has become a new oil for the Kingdom, said Hamidaddin, as one in every five new jobs globally in the past decade has come from tourism. In the next decade, this will increase to one in four jobs. He emphasized that while many sectors are losing to machines, tourism is not, and they are doing tourism for their people and their economy. The world came to Saudi Arabia in the 1920s for oil, and now the world will come in the 2020s for tourism.
Source: Hotelier Middle East.
