Saudi Arabia has welcomed more than 8.6 million tourists from GCC countries in 2023 who collectively spent over SAR 15 billion, according to a press release issued today by the Ministry of Tourism.
Bahrain Leads in Visitors
The Ministry said in its annual tourism statistics report for 2023 that the Kingdom of Bahrain ranked first among the countries from which tourists came from the GCC region, with 3.4 million tourists.
Kuwait followed closely ranking second with more than 2.3 million, and the United Arab Emirates secured third place with nearly 1.4 million tourists.
Moreover, tourists from Qatar were about 1.1 million, giving it the fourth place, and finally Oman came last with 455 thousand tourists.
Tourism Flourishes
Tourism in Saudi Arabia boomed in 2023, since it recorded around 109 million tourists, including 27 million international tourists and 81 million domestic tourists, with total spending exceeding SAR 250 billion.
This placed Saudi Arabia in the 11th position globally in terms of tourist numbers.
The Kingdom topped the United Nations Tourism ranking in terms of the growth of international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019 among the countries hosting major tourism destinations.
Saudi Arabia recorded an increase of 56 percent in the number of incoming tourists in 2023 compared to 2019, according to the World Tourism Barometer report issued by the United Nations Tourism in January.
Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb revealed that the Kingdom has received 60 million tourists in the first half of 2024, with a total spending of SAR150 billion, accounting for a 10% growth compared to the same period last year.
Contribution to Local Economy
In September 2023, Al-Khateeb revealed to Bloomberg that the Kingdom aims to attract 150 million foreign tourists annually by 2030, up from the previous goal of 50 million visitors.
Al-Khateeb announced that Saudi Arabia has received 60 million tourists in the first half of 2024, with a total spending of SAR150 billion, accounting for a 10% growth compared to the same period last year.
However, the Ministry also highlighted the tourism sector’s current contribution to the local economy at about 5%, with plans to elevate this figure to 10%, equivalent to SAR 600-700 billion.
