Saudi Arabia Leads G20 For International Tourism Growth

Saudi Arabia has again topped the list of international tourism growth among G20 countries from January to July 2024.

G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, it includes South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union.

A closer look at the statistics

According to the latest United Nations Tourism Organization data, the kingdom’s international tourists rose by 73 percent. This also marks a 207 percent increase in international tourism revenues versus the same period in 2019. This is according to the organization’s September 2024 World Tourism Barometer report.

During the seven months, Saudi Arabia welcomed 17.5 million international tourists. In 2023, meanwhile, the kingdom received 27.4 million visitors, marking a 56 percent growth in international arrivals versus in 2019.

Such achievements placed Saudi Arabia first on the United Nations list for tourism growth among the world’s leading destinations. More importantly, the kingdom experienced a 38 percent increase versus the previous year, with SAR 48 billion in 2023.

Saudi Arabia tourism: Boosting the economy

Saudi Minister of Tourism, His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, noted that Saudi Arabia concentrates its efforts on environmental and social sustainability.

“We have a mandate to protect the environment and ensure economic and social sustainability,” he said. This was during the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Belem, Brazil.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lauded Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector in its 2024 Article IV Consultation report. In particular, it emphasized how tourism helps diversify the Saudi economy and promote growth. Moreover, tourism has contributed to an increase in visitor numbers, job generation, spending, and GDP contribution.

The IMF Article IV consultation reports are annual comprehensive assessments of a country’s economic situation. It provides an in-depth analysis of macroeconomic factors. These include factors such as economic growth, fiscal policy, monetary policy, exchange rate policy, and structural reforms, among others.

The objectives of the IMF Article IV consultation reports include monitoring the global economy and providing economic recommendations to countries. They also include offering technical assistance to countries in areas such as financial sector regulation, monetary policy, and fiscal management.

Earlier, the IMF also praised Saudi Arabia for surpassing 100 million visitors seven years ahead of its 2030 target.

Growing beyond the global average

More than the increase in visitor numbers and tourism spending, Saudi Arabia’s achievement symbolizes its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the global health crisis’s wake are the development of tourism infrastructure and human capital investment.

“Many businesses went out of business because of COVID,” Al-Khateeb remarked. “We learned the hard way, and now we must make these businesses more resilient.”

Moving forward, Saudi Arabia will be further leveraging tourism to help achieve its Vision 2030 goals. The kingdom has invested massively in giga-projects such as NEOM, the Red Sea Project, and Qiddiya, which will create jobs. This will also help promote Saudi Arabia as a leading tourism destination.

“We are building new cities, new destinations…” Al-Khateeb mentioned. “We need to hire hundreds of thousands of people to fulfill the demand.”

“The demand for travel and tourism is massive and we are expecting the industry to grow beyond the global average in the coming years.”

Photo by NEOM on Unsplash