Saudi tourism generated $3.5bn this summer

During the summer vacation period this year, various regions of Saudi Arabia received as many as 11.3 million tourists who spent more than SR13.5 billion ($3.5 billion), according to the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH).

The commission said the spending was an increase of about 12 per cent over the previous summer.

The Tourism Information and Research Centre (MAS), affiliated to the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, revealed that the number of inbound tourists reached up to 2.3 million, up 21.2 per cent compared to 2017.

The Eastern Region was the most visited destination for inbound tourists, receiving about 45 percent of the tourists, followed by Riyadh, which has a 27 per cent share. Makkah accounted for 16 per cent of the inbound tourist numbers.

SCTH said about 39 per cent of the tourists travelled to various parts of the kingdom to visit their friends and relatives. Those travelling for business represented about 31 per cent while those doing shopping were about 12 per cent.

The commission pointed out that the number of outbound tourists departing from the kingdom reached 9.4 million, up 7.4 per cent compared to 2017.

With regard to the expenditure of the departing tourists, the report showed that tourist expenditures amounted to more than SR30.5 billion ($8.1 billion), which is a drop of about 4.6 per cent over their spending the previous year.

According to the centre, the average expenditure of each tourist was SR1,196 ($318.7).

SCTH said most of the foreign tourists came from the GCC countries, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Asia and the Pacific, North America and Africa. - TradeArabia News Service