WTTC 2024 Economic Impact Research has revealed a record-breaking year for Travel Tourism in Saudi Arabia

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Research (EIR), Saudi Arabia had a record-breaking year for travel and tourism in 2024, with industry employment, GDP contribution, and visitor spending all reaching previously unheard-of levels. Saudi Arabia's travel and tourism industry has broken all prior records, indicating the nation's determination to become a major worldwide travel destination. 

The industry expanded by more than 32% in the previous year, bringing in a record-breaking SR444.3 billion (or 11.5% of the country's GDP) for Saudi Arabia's GDP. This shows how important the industry is to the country's economic structure as it surpasses the previous record by about 30%.

The sector now supports over 2.5 million jobs nationwide, or over one in five jobs, with a 436,000 rise in employment. Despite the fact that the jobs lost due to the pandemic were entirely recovered in 2022, the announcement made today indicates that employment in the travel and tourism sector has expanded by about 24% from the peak. 

While domestic visitor spending increased by 21.5% to reach SR142.5 billion, foreign visitor spending soared by over 57% to reach SR227.4 billion, shattering the previous record by SR93.6 billion. 

In 2023, Saudi Arabia welcomed 100 million tourists, seven years ahead of schedule. By 2030, the nation wants to have 150 million visitors.

In 2024, travel and tourism are predicted to continue expanding and contribute SR498 billion to the GDP. Over 158,000 more jobs are expected to be created, bringing the total to almost 2.7 million. It is anticipated that domestic tourist spending would reach SR155.2 billion, while spending by foreign visitors will nearly double to SR256 billion, the previous record point. 

In the upcoming ten years, the WTTC projects that the industry would employ over 3.6 million people nationwide—one in five—and increase its yearly GDP contribution to an astounding SR836.1 billion by 2034, or about 16% of the Saudi Arabian GDP.