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Saudi Arabia sees 122.6M tourist arrivals in 2025; spending rises to SAR 303.7B
AI Summary
Content Summary: 
Saudi Arabia's tourism sector recorded positive performance during 2025, particularly in total tourist numbers and spending.
The total number of inbound tourists rose to 122.6 million, an increase of 5.8% compared with 2024. Tourism spending also increased to SAR 303.7 billion, recording 7.0% growth.
Domestic tourism recorded 93.3 million tourists, an increase of 8.3%, while the number of inbound tourists declined by 1.6% to 29.3 million.
Total inbound tourism spending reached SAR 176.6 billion, up 4.8%, compared with SAR 127.1 billion spent on domestic tourism (+10.2%).
|
Tourism Sector Performance During 2025 |
|
|
Item |
Note |
|
Total Number of Tourists |
122.6 million (+5.8%) |
|
Tourism Spending |
SAR 303.7 billion (+7.0%) |
|
Domestic Tourism |
93.3 million tourists (+8.3%); spending SAR 127.1 billion (+10.2%) |
|
Inbound Tourism |
29.3 million tourists (-1.6%); spending SAR 176.6 billion (+4.8%) |
|
Hospitality Facilities |
597,000 licensed rooms (+25.4%), with the average daily rate declining (2.0%) |
Comparison between Inbound & Domestic Tourism
Domestic tourism accounted for the larger share of tourist numbers, while inbound tourism accounted for the larger share of tourism spending.
|
Inbound and Domestic Tourism |
|||
|
Item |
Inbound Tourism |
Domestic Tourism |
YoY Change |
|
Number of Tourists |
29.3 mln |
93.3 mln |
Inbound (-1.6%) Domestic (+8.3%) |
|
Total Spending |
SAR 176.6 bln |
SAR 127.1 bln |
Inbound (+4.8%) Domestic (+10.2%) |
|
Peak Month by Tourist Numbers |
January 3.6 mln |
March 9.3 mln |
-- |
|
Peak Month by Spending |
June: SAR 27.5 bln |
July: SAR 15.4 bln |
-- |
Performance of Inbound Tourism
Although the number of inbound tourists declined to 29.3 million in 2025, down 1.6% compared with 2024, their spending increased by 4.8% to SAR 176.6 billion.
|
Purpose of Inbound Visitors |
||||
|
Purpose |
Overnight Visitors 2025 (mln) |
YoY Change |
Spending 2025 (SAR bln) |
YoY Change |
|
Religious purposes |
14.1 |
(1%) |
110.3 |
+ 18% |
|
Leisure and holidays |
7.0 |
(6%) |
35.0 |
(4%) |
|
Visiting friends and relatives |
4.4 |
(27%) |
12.7 |
(32%) |
|
Business |
2.3 |
+ 14% |
15.8 |
(1%) |
|
Others |
1.5 |
(25%) |
2.8 |
(25%) |
|
Travel Channels for Inbound Tourists |
|||||
|
Travel Channel |
Number of Tourists (mln) |
Share of Total |
Total Spending (SAR bln) |
Share of Total |
Average Spending per Tourist (SAR) |
|
By air |
20.2 |
69% |
143.1 |
81% |
7096 |
|
By land |
8.9 |
30% |
32.2 |
18% |
3617 |
|
By sea |
0.2 |
1% |
1.4 |
1% |
6913 |
|
Tourism Spending Categories – Inbound Tourism |
|
|
Item |
Share of Inbound Spending |
|
Visitor accommodation services |
33% |
|
Shopping |
22% |
|
Food and beverage services |
13% |
|
Local passenger transport |
8% |
|
Cultural, sports, and entertainment services |
3% |
|
Others |
21% |
Top Tourist-Sending Countries
Egypt ranked first among the countries sending tourists to the Kingdom, with 3.2 million tourists, followed by Pakistan with 2.8 million tourists. However, Pakistan ranked first in spending, which reached SAR 22 billion, as shown below:
|
Country |
Tourists 2025 (mln) |
Total Tourism Spending 2025 (SAR bln) |
|
Egypt |
3.2 |
15.9 |
|
Pakistan |
2.8 |
22.0 |
|
India |
2.0 |
17.8 |
|
Indonesia |
2.0 |
13.3 |
|
Kuwait |
1.8 |
2.7 |
|
Bahrain |
1.4 |
1.4 |
|
Turkey |
1.2 |
9.8 |
|
Yemen |
1.2 |
7.0 |
|
Iraq |
1.1 |
5.5 |
|
UAE |
1.1 |
3.0 |
|
Geographic Distribution of Tourist-Origin Markets |
||||||
|
Geographic Region |
Number of Tourists (mln) |
Spending (SAR bln) |
Tourist Change Compared to 2024 |
Spending Change Compared to 2024 |
Share of Tourists |
Share of Spending |
|
Asia and the Pacific |
10.5 |
82.9 |
+ 8.8% |
+ 9.4% |
36% |
47% |
|
Middle East and North Africa |
8.8 |
49.7 |
+ 5.1% |
(2.6%) |
30% |
28% |
|
GCC |
5.7 |
9.7 |
(28.7%) |
(23.9%) |
19% |
6% |
|
Europe |
2.9 |
22.5 |
+ 17.8% |
+ 20.6% |
10% |
13% |
|
Africa |
0.7 |
6.4 |
+ 16.4% |
23.7% |
3% |
4% |
|
The Americas |
0.6 |
5.0 |
(2.0%) |
+ 7.9% |
2% |
3% |
Domestic Tourism Performance
The number of domestic tourists reached 93.3 million in 2025, an increase of 8.3% compared with 2024, while their spending reached SAR 127.1 billion, growing 10.2%.
Visits to friends and relatives, together with leisure and holidays, accounted for 73% of domestic overnight visitors, while spending on domestic tourism for religious purposes grew by 32%.
|
Purpose of Visit – Domestic Tourists |
||||
|
Purpose |
Overnight Visitors 2025 (mln) |
YoY Change |
Spending 2025 (SAR bln) |
YoY Change |
|
Visiting friends and relatives |
37.7 |
+ 25% |
39.3 |
+ 2% |
|
Leisure and holidays |
30.2 |
(6%) |
40.9 |
+ 11% |
|
Religious purposes |
13.8 |
+ 21% |
17.3 |
+ 32% |
|
Business |
8.5 |
(4%) |
20.8 |
+ 2% |
|
Others |
3.1 |
(9%) |
8.8 |
+ 31% |
Main Type of Accommodation – Domestic Tourism
Private residences accounted for the largest share of accommodation used by domestic tourists, while hotels maintained the highest average spending per tourist compared with private residences and apartments.
|
Accommodation Details – Domestic Tourism |
|||||
|
Accommodation Type |
Number of Tourists (mln) |
Share of Tourists |
Total Spending (SAR bln) |
Share of Spending |
Average Spending per Tourist (SAR) |
|
Private residences |
39.9 |
43% |
48.6 |
38% |
1218 |
|
Hotels |
24.5 |
26% |
39.5 |
31% |
1615 |
|
Apartments |
21.4 |
23% |
32.0 |
25% |
1493 |
|
Others |
7.6 |
8% |
7.0 |
6% |
929 |
|
Main Means of Transport – Domestic Tourism |
|||||
|
Means of Transportation |
Number of Tourists (mln) |
Share of Total |
Total Spending (SAR bln) |
Share of Total |
Average Spending per Tourist (SAR) |
|
By land |
87.5 |
94% |
104.8 |
83% |
1198 |
|
By air |
5.8 |
6% |
22.2 |
17% |
3851 |
|
By sea |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
512 |
|
Tourism Spending Categories – Domestic Tourism |
|
|
Item |
Share of Local Spending |
|
Food and beverage services |
32% |
|
Local passenger transport |
27% |
|
Visitor accommodation services |
23% |
|
Shopping |
10% |
|
Cultural, sports, and entertainment services |
4% |
|
Others |
4% |
Main Regions in Domestic Visits and Spending
Makkah ranked first among domestic destinations in terms of overnight visitors during 2025, while Riyadh ranked first in total spending by domestic visitors.
|
Region |
Domestic Overnight Visits (mln) |
Domestic Visitor Spending (SAR bln) |
|
Makkah |
28.6 |
38.6 |
|
Riyadh |
21.8 |
39.7 |
|
Eastern Province |
13.0 |
14.6 |
|
Madinah |
6.5 |
9.0 |
Hospitality Sector
The hospitality sector witnessed an expansion in the number of licensed facilities and rooms during 2025, alongside a slight decline in the average daily rate and revenue per available room.
|
Hospitality Sector |
||
|
Metric |
2025 |
YoY Change |
|
Total licensed hospitality facilities |
5937 |
+ 34.2% |
|
Licensed hotels |
2847 |
+ 31.6% |
|
Licensed apartments and other facilities |
3090 |
+36.6% |
|
Total rooms in licensed facilities (‘000) |
597 |
+25.4% |
|
Overall occupancy rate |
55.3% |
+ 0.6% |
|
Overall average daily rate (SAR) |
385 |
(2%) |
|
Hotel average daily rate (SAR) |
449 |
(5.5%) |
|
Apartments and other facilities average daily rate (SAR) |
207 |
+ 1.5% |
Key Tourism Economic Indicators
The tourism sector's contribution to Saudi Arabia's GDP increased in 2025 to nearly 5.2%, while the number of workers employed in the tourism sector rose by 6.2%.
|
Economic Indicator |
Value |
Change |
|
Direct contribution to GDP (2025) |
5.2% |
+ 0.3% |
|
Travel account surplus in the balance of payments |
49.4 |
(1.6%) |
|
Number of tourism employees (mln) |
1.03 |
+ 6.2% |
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