The Saudi Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khatib, indicated that the Kingdom aims to reach the sector’s contribution to the GDP to about 10 percent by 2030. While it is targeted to spend more than $200 billion by 2030.
Al-Khatib explained that 3% is the sector's contribution to the Kingdom's GDP when the tourism strategy was launched in September 2019. Noting that 80 percent of the institutions operating in the sector are small and medium, and the private sector is the basis for managing and operating the travel and tourism sector.
Regarding the number of visitors to the Kingdom in 2021, Al-Khatib indicated that there were 64 million internal visits received by the Kingdom during this period, while the number of visitors from abroad decreased due to the closures and reached 5 million visitors last year.
Minister Al-Khatib indicated that the sector in the Kingdom shrank by 40 percent during the Corona pandemic, pointing out that the sector's contribution to creating jobs was 3 percent in 2019 and it is targeted to reach 10 percent by 2030.
He noted that the job sector in the Kingdom grew by 15 percent to 820,000 jobs between 2019 and now. He stressed that the tourist visas launched by the Kingdom in 2019 still exist and there are no specific restrictions for those coming for tourism, and visas for residents of the Gulf will be launched soon.
Source (CNBC Arabic Website, Edited)
