The Saudi Ministry of Tourism announced that the Kingdom achieved a large surplus in the balance of payments for the travel item in the first quarter of 2023, where the surplus amounted to 22.8 billion riyals compared to a deficit of 1.6 billion riyals in the first quarter of the previous year, and this surplus was achieved as a result of the significant growth of inbound tourism revenues by about 225% compared to the first quarter of 2022 to reach about 37 billion Saudi riyals, according to the data of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia.
The data issued by the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia confirmed the sector's high contribution to the current account balance, as a result of the Ministry of Tourism's efforts, with the support and support of the leadership, to reach the best international centers in the sector through the application of best practices in tourism development and upgrading tourism services and products, in addition to continuous cooperation with all government agencies to support the development of the tourism sector in the kingdom.
The kingdom has recently achieved a number of outstanding achievements in the tourism sector; most notably, what was issued by the World Tourism Organization, as the kingdom advanced in the international tourism revenue index by 16 positions to reach the 11th place in 2022 compared to the 27th place in 2019 globally. The kingdom also continued its international achievements in the tourism sector, as it received about 7.8 million international tourists during the first quarter of 2023, which is the highest quarterly performance in history to achieve a growth rate of 64% compared to the same period in 2019, and thus the Kingdom achieved the second place globally in the growth rate of the number of international tourists according to the data of the organization issued in May of 2023.