Muzzammil Ahussain

Global tourism reached its peak post-pandemic, with the MENA region, in particular, enjoying a robust intake of international travellers bolstered by enhanced air connectivity, visa facilitation, and the lure of going off the beaten track. However, the momentum carries over into 2025 with even more challenges for the regional travel and tourism sector.

The demand for 24/7 service and customised itineraries with seamless digital access to a global network of world-class amenities has further fueled the needs of intrepid travellers.

With the World Bank predicting strong economic growth for the GCC, driven by UAE and Saudi Arabia, the focus on diversified economies places the spotlight firmly on the booming tourism sector. The international tourism receipts (expenditures by inbound tourists) in Saudi Arabia (ref Statista) have been forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total $9.1bn (+65.67 per cent). For the local travel and tourism sector, this signifies greater scope for leveraging their on-ground market expertise with the benefit of strategic collaborations with global partners backed by an innovative digital network to enhance their offerings to customers further. As Saudi Arabia’s leading home-grown travel company, Almosafer (part of Seera Group) is geared to cater to every vertical – consumer, business, religious, destination management or activities – with a robust technological backbone to ensure agile integration of services.

People continue to be at the centre of our blueprint, and our travel technology reflects this user-centric approach. In today’s data-driven world, where personalisation is key to reaching the right audience, we have invested in advanced technologies, including NDC-enabled Travel API solution, that not only resonate with the cultural nuances of the GCC region, and respond to customers’ 24/7 queries, but also learns from behavioural data to tailor a richer, smarter travel journey for all. Our state-of-the-art proprietary technology, and data-driven decision-making, enable us to deliver seamless travel bookings on digital consumer platforms, B2B Portals, and distribution platforms that are pivotal to the growth of the travel ecosystem, as well as white-label platforms offered to partners.

Religious tourism continues to be the mainstay of Saudi Arabia’s tourism strategy and we plan to power it further through our Hajj and Umrah tour operator Mawasim in 2025. Almosafer continues to make significant strides in enhancing the pilgrim experience through direct integration with the Nusuk Hajj platform.

The partnership, as part of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah’s Direct Hajj Initiative, allows us to ensure pilgrims from across the world enjoy a seamless, all-encompassing booking journey with us. Our effort to bring something new to the market has seen our destination management vertical, Discover Saudi, collaborate with the Muslim Golf Association, to bring the world’s first Golf Umrah, Race to Makkah, to the kingdom.

Domestic tourism is booming and continues to set new booking benchmarks for us through the opening and further development of leisure destinations such as Abha and Taif and luxurious getaways in AlUla and the Red Sea. Our ongoing collaborations with the Saudi Tourism Authority and key ecosystem players will further drive the demand for immersive experiences.

With Saudi Arabia receiving the ‘Approved Destination Status’ from China, the kingdom will target five million Chinese tourists by 2030. With tailored services, including Mandarin-friendly signage and culturally sensitised personnel, we look forward to welcoming even more Chinese tourists next year. For this purpose, we have partnered with leading Chinese travel services platform Trip.com Group to improve hotel and flight packages and expand corporate and business travel services by integrating our regional expertise with their advanced travel technology.

People are at the core of what we do and through our many strategic partnerships and technological innovations powered by AI-driven personalisation and enhanced payment systems, we hope to curate more memorable moments for visitors to Saudi Arabia next year.