Saudi Arabia Tourism Soars in 2023: Key Insights

Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry experienced rapid growth in 2023, marking a significant milestone in the Kingdom’s post-pandemic recovery. The surge in overnight visitors and tourist spending, by both domestic and international visitors, underscores the country’s growing appeal as a top tourist destination. While religious tourism continues to drive inbound travel, a notable rise in leisure travel indicates Saudi Arabia is beginning to solidify its position as a key tourism destination.

By Arendse Huld

Tourism in Saudi Arabia surged to unprecedented levels in 2023, with the country recording over 100 million overnight visitors across the year, according to recent data from the Ministry of Tourism (MT). The total number of overnight tourists reached 109.4 million, marking a 15.7 percent increase compared to the previous year. This significant growth reflects a robust recovery in both domestic and international tourism following the pandemic.

Approximately a quarter of these overnight visitors were international travelers, with Saudi Arabia welcoming over 27 million inbound tourists in 2023—a remarkable 65 percent increase from 2022.

In total, inbound visitors spent a total of 432.3 million nights in Saudi Arabia in 2023, with the average length of stay being 15.76 nights.

Tourist spending reaches record high in 2023

Tourist spending also reached a record high in 2023, amounting to a total of SAR 255.64 billion (US$68.1 billion). Although domestic tourists made up around three-quarters of the total number of overnight visitors, international visitors accounted for around 55 percent of the total tourist spending. This proportion has steadily recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic but remains below 2019 when inbound visitor spending accounted for almost 63 percent of the total. This suggests spending by international tourists could further increase in the coming years.

Accommodation took up the largest share of spending by inbound visitors, accounting for around 32 percent of the total in 2023. This was followed by shopping (18 percent), local transport (15 percent), and food (13.8 percent) (“other” spending accounted for around 18 percent of total spending).

GCC, Bahrain remain top origin for inbound tourists

Visitors from the fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in addition to Saudi Arabia) make up the lion’s share of inbound visitors, with a total of 8.63 million visitors in 2023, accounting for around 31.5 percent. Bahrain was the top country of origin with both the GCC and worldwide, with a total of 3.39 million overnight visitors in 2023. The second largest country of origin was Egypt, with around 2.6 million overnight visitors.

Visitors from Asia accounted for around 29 percent of total inbound visitors, while a further 20.4 percent came from the Middle East.

However, in terms of total tourist spending of inbound visitors, 39 percent came from visitors from Asia, while visitors from the Middle East and Europe accounted for 32.3 percent and 12.5 percent respectively.

Religious tourism leads reasons for travel to Saudi Arabia

The main reason for traveling within or to Saudi Arabia varies greatly between domestic and international visitors. Among domestic visitors, almost 42 percent traveled primarily for leisure purposes in 2023, while another 29.7 percent traveled primarily to visit family and friends.

For international visitors, religious purposes were the top reason for over 42 percent of visitors. This suggests that one of the international visitors’ primary motivations for visiting Saudi Arabia is to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, as well as travel to other holy Islamic sites across the country. Notably, tourist spending has tended to peak in the month in which the Hajj falls in recent years, although 2020 and 2021 saw a reversal of this trend due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

For instance, in 2023, tourist spending peaked in June – at SAR 30.29 billion (US$8.1 billion) – the month in which the Hajj began that year.

Religious tourism is likely also the driver behind the larger numbers of visitors from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe, as these regions have larger Muslim populations. By contrast, the number of visitors from the Americas, which have relatively smaller Muslim populations, is much lower.

Travel for leisure surges post-pandemic

Although religious remains the top reason for visiting Saudi Arabia, tourism for leisure among international tourists has seen a notable uptick in the years since the pandemic. In 2019, travel for leisure was the main reason for travel among just 6.4 percent of inbound visitors, this proportion had jumped to 22.8 percent in 2023. This uptick indicates that the Kingdom’s various tourism campaigns to attract wealthy tourists – such as the one featuring international football star Lionel Messi – are beginning to bear fruit.

Tourism and Vision 2030

The future of Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry is poised for significant growth, driven by the Kingdom’s strategic efforts to diversify its economy away from oil dependency. Central to this vision is Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030, a comprehensive reform plan that seeks to transform the nation’s economic landscape.

Tourism plays a crucial role in this vision. Under the plan, Saudi Arabia aims to attract 150 million visits annually by 2030, create 1.6 million job opportunities, and facilitate the hosting of over 37 million Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. These objectives seek to both increase employment, expand the contribution of the private sector, and attract substantial foreign investments.

By focusing on enhancing its tourism infrastructure and marketing the Kingdom as a global destination for both religious and leisure travelers, Saudi Arabia is seeking to build the groundwork for a more diversified and resilient economy. The success of these efforts will be pivotal in achieving the broader goals of Vision 2030, with the tourism sector set to play an important role in the country’s future economic prosperity.

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