Saudi Arabia achieves the second place in the world in the growth of tourist numbers

The kingdom has achieved a remarkable achievement in the tourism sector; it has made a big leap in the ranking of the most receiving countries for international tourists, to advance 12 positions, and reach the 13th place in 2022 compared to the 25th place in 2019, as the number of international tourists arriving to the Kingdom reached 16.6 million tourists for all purposes in 2022, according to the report issued by the World Tourism Organization.

The kingdom also advanced in the international tourism revenue index by 16 positions to reach the 11th position in 2022 compared to the 27th position in 2019 globally, according to the World Tourism Organization's Global Tourism Barometer Report for the month of May 2023.

The kingdom continued its international achievements in the field of tourism, as the kingdom received about 7.8 million international tourists for all purposes during the first quarter of 2023, which represents the highest quarterly performance in history to achieve a growth of 64% compared to the same period in 2019, thus achieving the second place among the list of the most developed countries in the world during the period, according to the latest data received from the organization from countries.

Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Aqil al-Khatib stressed that this achievement is in addition to the successes achieved by the kingdom in various fields, as the culmination of the directives of the wise leadership - represented by the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Highness The Crown Prince, may God protect them – to strive to strengthen the kingdom's position on the global tourism map, and raise its contribution to the GDP in accordance with the kingdom's Vision 2030.

He pointed out that the development of visas and facilitating their procedures, along with promotional efforts in the target countries, and the diversity of options and tourist destinations in the kingdom were among the reasons for achieving these achievements.

He stressed that the ministry will continue its efforts in cooperation with all partners from the public and private sectors in order to move forward in achieving the aspirations of the wise leadership by making the kingdom a global tourism destination.

It is noteworthy that earlier the Kingdom achieved a new achievement within the TTDI travel and Tourism Development Index issued by the WEF World Economic Forum, where it jumped globally to the 33rd position, ahead of 10 positions at once compared to 2019.