Saudi Arabia aims to be among the top 10 global touristic destinations this year, with national tourism strategy aiming to attract more than 150 million visitors by 2030.
Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s minister of tourism, spoke at the Manafea Forum in Medina stating how the Kingdom is on the right path to make the tourism sector an important contributor to the country’s overall gross domestic product (GDP).
In 2023, Al-Khateeb said that the tourism sector accounted for 5 per cent of GDP, with the target of increasing this figure to 10 per cent.
He said: “At the Ministry of Tourism, we were keen to make the legislation regulating the tourism sector characterized by ease, flexibility and clarity, and we introduced new licenses with regard to guest facilities and hospitality.”
He talked about the Tourism Investment Enablers Programme, which aims to achieve these objectives by empowering the private sector as well as creating 1,000,000 job opportunities by 2030.
