Saudi Arabia’s licensed tourism hospitality facilities experienced a significant increase of 22.7 percent year on year, reaching 6,122 establishments in the first quarter of 2026.
The growth underscores the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to expand accommodation capacity, aligning with its ambition to position itself as a leading global tourism destination as part of the Vision 2030 initiative.
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed that serviced apartments and similar facilities accounted for 51.6 percent of the total licensed establishments, while hotels comprised the remaining 48.4 percent.
This expansion in the hospitality sector is integral to the National Tourism Strategy, which aims to attract 150 million visitors by 2030 and has already surpassed the initial target of 100 million.
Employment in tourism-related activities demonstrated robust growth, with approximately 177,031 employees recorded in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a 9 percent increase from the same period the previous year.
Total employment in the sector reached about 1,047,313, marking a significant rise from 983,253 a year prior. Saudi nationals constituted 250,094 of the workforce, while non-Saudi workers accounted for 797,219.
Guests staying in hotels averaged 4.2 nights in the first quarter, a slight increase from 4.1 nights noted in 2025. Conversely, visitors to serviced apartments stayed an average of 2.2 nights, representing a modest rise of 1.2 percent.
The hotel sector experienced a dip in occupancy rates, falling to 60.8 percent compared to 63 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
In contrast, occupancy rates for serviced apartments improved to 51.6 percent. Average daily room rates showed varying trends; hotels reported an average rate of around SR423, down 11.4 percent from the previous year, while serviced apartments saw a minor decline to SR206.
Credit: hoteliermiddleeast
