Saudi Arabia has been ranked second globally in terms of tourist arrivals during the first seven months of 2023, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The Kingdom saw a 58 percent growth in tourist numbers up to the end of July, according to the Ministry of Tourism, compared to the same period in 2019.
The figures were revealed in a report from Arab News, which said the figures were sourced last month from the UN World Tourism Organization and came from the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
Riyadh recently concluded the World Tourism Day summit on Sept. 27-28 which saw widespread participation, including even from Israels Minister of Tourism.
According to the SPA, Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said that the achievement “would not have been possible without the support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince.”
Recently the Kingdom revised upward its tourism goals by 2030 as performance continued to outpace previously targeted levels which were once considered by some to be unachievable when originally set forth.
Saudi Arabia raised its previous 100 million visitors by 2030 target to 150 million, as kingdom officials say the old number is too low. The move was revealed during the Skift Global Forum 2023 by Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Deputy Minister, Destination Enablement at the Ministry of Tourism, according to a report in Skift.
“100 million visits is no longer sufficient,” he said. “We are well above our targets and well above our 2022 performance. So we must be doing something right.”
