Saudi Tourism Facilities Climb 18% Amid Rapid Hospitality Expansion

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Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector is taking shape on a larger scale, with accommodation capacity expanding rapidly to support the Kingdom’s dramatic transformation into a global tourism destination.

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A Broader Hospitality Base

In the second quarter, the number of licensed tourism hospitality facilities rose 17.9% year on year, bringing the total to 6,278.

The latest data from the General Authority for Statistics stand as a testament to the rapid expansion of the market.

Serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities accounted for 3,258 establishments, representing 51.9% of the total, while the number of hotels reached 3,020.

The 150 Million Goal

The growing hospitality footprint also reflects a broader transformation underway across Saudi Arabia’s economy.

As the Kingdom builds tourism into a key pillar of Saudi Vision 2030, it has already exceeded its original target of 100 million annual tourists, reaching the milestone in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule.

Subsequently, the Kingdom has raised its 2030 target to 150 million domestic and international tourists.

A Wider Tourism Footprint

At a broader level, the expansion is also visible across Saudi Arabia’s accommodation inventory.

GASTAT reported a 13.2% year-on-year increase in licensed hotel rooms, while rooms in serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities recorded a stronger 19.7% rise over the same period.

More boldly, the sector’s expansion is translating into a growing network of tourism businesses and workplaces.

GASTAT recorded 179,507 tourism establishments with employees in the second quarter, an 8.7% increase from 165,167 in the same period of 2025.

A Stronger Tourism Workforce

The tourism boom is also redefining the Kingdom’s employment landscape. Approximately 1.07 million people worked across tourism activities in the second quarter, marking a 7.2% annual increase.

Saudi employees numbered 258,043, making up 24.1% of the workforce, while non-Saudi employees reached 811,077, or 75.9%.

The Value of Longer Stays

Room pricing also shifted as Saudi Arabia’s hospitality market continued to broaden.

The average daily hotel rate stood at around SR563 ($150.40) in the second quarter, compared with SR643 a year earlier, while rates for serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities reached SR197, down modestly from SR201.

The figures also signal longer stays among hotel guests, with the average visit extending to about five nights in the second quarter from 4.8 nights a year earlier.

That marks a 3.3% increase and comes alongside a broadly stable average stay of around two nights at serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities.

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