Monday, June 10, 2024 The World Travel & Tourism Council’s ( WTTC ) 2024 Economic Impact Research (EIR) has revealed a record-breaking year for travel and tourism in Saudi Arabia , with new records in GDP contribution, sector jobs and visitor spend. Saudi Arabia’s Travel and Tourism sector is now soaring past all previous records, testament to the country’s commitment to becoming a global tourism hot spot. Last year, the sector grew by more than 32% to contribute a record-breaking SAR 444.
3BN to Saudi’s GDP, representing 11.5% of the entire economy. This exceeded the previous record by almost 30% and underscores the sector’s pivotal new role in the nation’s economic framework.
Jobs supported by the sector grew by 436,000 to reach more than 2.5MN, representing almost one in five jobs in the country. Although the jobs lost during the pandemic were fully recovered in 2022, today’s announcement shows sector employment in Travel and Tourism has increased almost 24% since the previous peak.
International visitor spending surged by almost 57% to reach SAR 227.4BN, breaking the previous record by SAR 93.6BN, while domestic visitor spending grew by 21.
5% to reach SAR 142.5BN. Seven years ahead of its target, Saudi Arabia welcomed 100MN tourists in 2023.
Today, the country is surging toward even greater heights and has set a more ambitious aim of attracting 150MN tourists by 2030. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said; “Saudi Arabia’s Travel & Tourism sector’s ex.
