DUBAI: According to market research firm Euromonitor International, Inbound tourism spending in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach $25.3 billion by 2025, recovering from the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“World inbound tourism spending collapsed by 57 % in 2020, and our forecast expects it to rebound by 82 % in 2021,” Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism research at Euromonitor International, stated in a press statement.
“In our most pessimistic scenario, spending growth is predicted to rise by 40 % in 2021, leading to a more extended recovery timeline, returning to pre-crisis levels by 2024,” stated Bremner.
Saudi domestic tourism exceeded expectations during the pandemic, despite the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) describing 2020 as “the worst yr on record within the history of tourism.”
Figures from the UNWTO in December revealed that destinations welcomed 900 million fewer international tourists between January and October, compared with the same period in 2019 — a 72 % year-on-year slump.
Despite the dire international picture, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism announced in September that domestic tourism noticed a significant rise in traveler numbers, surpassing official projections.
During the 2021 Budget Forum in December, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb stated the Kingdom is aiming to attract new tourism investments worth SR220 billion ($58 billion) by 2023, and more than SR500 billion by the end of the decade. In 2019, Saudi travelers spent $22 billion touring abroad. One of the ways the ministry is aiming to boost the Kingdom’s tourism revenues is to encourage Saudis to spend some of their tourism cash at home.
