Home GCC Tourism boom: Saudi Arabia’s international visitor numbers soar 142% More tourists than ever before are visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as inbound visitor numbers have more than doubled since 2022 by Gareth van Zyl December 21, 2023 More international tourists than ever before are visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with visitor numbers surging by 142% in the first half of 2023, surpassing 14 million people. This is according to data released by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism, which this week announced preliminary tourism statistics data for the first half of 2023. Breaking down the figures further, the ministry said that the total number of tourists reached 53.6 million for the year, but that of these 39 million were domestic tourists while the rest (14.6 million) were international tourists. What’s more interesting is that tourism spending is also on the rise. “The total tourism spending reached (SAR150bn), of which (SAR 63.1bn) came from domestic tourism and (SAR 86.9bn) from inbound tourism, that indicates a new historical record for Saudi tourism,” said the ministry in a statement. “Domestic tourism in the first half of 2023 recorded a growth of (16%) in tourism spending, due to the average length of stay increasing from (4.6) nights in the first half of 2022 to (6.3) nights in the first half of 2023,” noted the ministry. Officials went on further to say that leisure was the top reason for tourist’s visits, achieving an increase of (18%) compared to the first half 2022, with (16.6 million) tourists accounting for (43%) of all domestic tourists’ trips.