The tourism sector is one of the vital pillars forming the backbone of the Saudi economy, contributing to job creation for Saudi citizens, improving infrastructure, and developing all logistical services. Under the Vision 2030 initiative, Saudi Arabia aimed to revitalize this sector by opening its doors to tourists from around the world, including launching electronic tourist visas for citizens of 49 countries, issuing over 440,000 tourist visas by March 2020.

The Kingdom aspires to attract approximately 55 million international tourist visits and 45 million domestic visits, aiming to create one million jobs for citizens and increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 10%.

Here are the key indicators of the sector according to the latest statistics:

• 27,480,972 total number of foreign visitors to the Kingdom.
• Around 690 entertainment events held.
• 8,499 archaeological, heritage, and historical sites registered in Saudi Arabia.
• 70.2% average hotel occupancy rate.
• Domestic tourists spent 248,752,006 nights, with expenditures exceeding 53,162,627,159 SAR.
• International tourists spent approximately 188,040,603 nights, with expenditures surpassing 100,806,082,413 SAR.