Travelers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries spent more than $3.9 billion during their travels in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Tourism said in its annual report.
Around 8.6 million visitors from these countries came to Saudi Arabia. This included 3.5 million travelers from Bahrain, 2.3 million from Kuwait, 1.4 million from the UAE, 1.1 million from Qatar, and 455,000 from Oman.
Overall, Saudi Arabia welcomed 27 million international visitors in 2023, who spent more than $37 billion in the Kingdom, the report said, adding that the combined number of domestic and international tourists surpassed 109 million.
The Saudi tourism sector has shown significant growth over the past few years, driven by an increase in the number of visitors from the GCC and across the world.
Since introducing Saudi Vision 2030 in 2016, Saudi Arabia has greatly invested in tourism as part of its efforts to diversify from being an oil-based economy.
As a result of the Kingdom’s investments in diverse sectors, the country has witnessed significant contributions to its economy that helped position Saudi Arabia as a premier tourism destination.
