Saudi Arabia’s tourism transformation is gaining further momentum, with leisure travel to the Kingdom forecast to expand by 93 percent between 2025 and 2030.
Outpacing Global Growth
The projected rise places Saudi Arabia well ahead of the Middle East, where international leisure tourism is anticipated to rise 64 percent, and the global market, expected to grow 30 percent.
Published by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company, in a report presented at WTM Spotlight Riyadh, the forecast underscores the scale of the Kingdom’s exceptional appeal to international travelers.
That momentum is vividly reflected in recent travel figures. Between 2019 and 2025, international travel to Saudi Arabia grew 67 percent, compared with 20 percent across the Middle East and just 5 percent globally.
What Is Driving Saudi Arabia’s Global Tourism Rise?
More boldly, the Kingdom generated approximately three-quarters of the region’s international travel growth over the period and represented nearly 15 percent of global travel growth since 2019.
“Saudi Arabia has rapidly emerged as one of the world’s most dynamic visitor economies,” said Dave Goodger, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Tourism Economics.
International visitors are also becoming a more significant part of the Kingdom’s tourism landscape, accounting for nearly half of all nights spent in Saudi Arabia.
This dramatic shift stands as a testament to the growing importance of tourism as a source of external demand and further highlights the Kingdom’s expanding international visitor economy.
A Growing Leisure Market
Remarkably, the rise of leisure tourism is reshaping Saudi Arabia’s international visitor economy. Leisure travelers accounted for 28 percent of international visitor spending in 2025, compared with just 9 percent in 2019, and their share is expected to reach 31 percent by 2030.
This notable growth mirrors the broader expansion of tourism across the Kingdom. In 2025, Saudi Arabia also welcomed 123 million domestic and inbound tourists, marking an increase of around 6 percent year on year.
Together, they generated a record SR304 billion in spending, according to the Ministry of Tourism’s annual statistical report.
Inbound tourists accounted for 29.3 million arrivals and generated SR176.6 billion in spending.
Meanwhile, leisure travelers made up 7 million of those arrivals, representing 24.1 percent of inbound tourism, according to official DataSaudi figures.
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