Nine million visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries spent more than SAR15 billion ($4 billion) in Saudi Arabia last year, as the kingdom expanded its portfolio of tourism attractions.
Bahrain was the top GCC source market, with 3.4 million tourists, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the tourism ministry’s annual statistics report.
A total of 2.3 million visitors saw Kuwait take second place, followed by the UAE (1.4 million), Qatar (1.1 million), and Oman (455,000).
The kingdom received 27 million international visitors who spent SAR141 billion last year. The combined number of domestic and international tourists surpassed 109 million.
In May, tourism minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said Saudi Arabia will invest more than $800 billion in its main giga-projects by the next decade as part of a tourism expansion strategy focused on affluent tourists in China, India, and Europe.
Speaking at the Qatar Investment Forum, the minister said: “We’re building and investing in major destinations like Neom, Red Sea, Qiddiya, and Diriyah, with an announced investment of more than $800 billion in the next seven years.”
Saudi Arabia is also expanding infrastructure, including a new Riyadh airport for its airline Riyadh Air, due to open in 2030, further easing visa access and increasing direct flights from the world’s major cities, Al-Khateeb said.
