Saudi Arabia will spend 1 trillion dollars over a decade to promote itself as a leisure tourist destination and achieve the ambitious goal of attracting 100 million visitors per year by 2030.
In the past five years, Saudi Arabia had already increased its investment in the tourism industry. Today, the Arabian country is the largest investing destination in the tourism sector, according to Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority.
Today, Saudi Arabia is the largest investing destination in the tourism sector.
Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority
The country is planning to spend another $1 trillion over the next decade, in line with its vision to attract 100 million tourists yearly.
The new campaign to promote Saudi Arabia to tourists includes a collaboration with Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, who is the new ambassador of the destination. American golfer Jack Nicklaus, conversely, has turned down an offer of $100 million to be the face of Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series.
Historically, Saudi Arabia has struggled to attract tourist flows due to human rights violations—including abuse against journalists—and societal limitations, such as its no-drinking policy and strict restrictions for women. But now, the country identifies tourism as one of the “promising sectors” to help diversify its primarily oil-based economy. Saudi Arabia is thus making significant moves to rebrand its image from a primarily religious destination to a leisure tourist destination with a new calendar of events, in line with the 2030 Vision.
Last year, the Arabian country attracted thousands of leisure tourists during the Riyadh Season 2021, an entertainment event that spanned over five months from October 2021 onwards. Additionally, the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah attracted crowds in December 2021, as it hosted the debut edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival and the Formula One Grand Prix. Saudi Arabia has also hosted a growing number of international sporting events, including the Italian Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
“In terms of total recovery, we reached 72 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2021. The last quarter of 2021-2022 has been extremely rewarding as we reached 130 percent of pre-pandemic levels.” said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority.
In contrast to the majority of tourist destinations, Saudi Arabia used the Covid downtime to promote its tourism sector to domestic visitors. The result was a record year for the country’s tourism industry, with domestic tourism reaching 62 million visits.
