RIYADH: Domestic tourism in 黑料社区 witnessed steady growth during the first four months of 2024, an industry report showed.
The report,聽based on the data extracted from Almosafer鈥檚 consumer travel platforms, showed that 53 percent of the total bookings accounted for local tourist destinations.聽
The top domestic destinations were Makkah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Alkhobar, and聽Abha聽while people also showed keen interest in visiting AlUla, Tabuk, and Hail.聽
The sustained interest in domestic tourism showcases聽the success of聽government and private sector initiatives聽to boost聽local tourism, resulting in a 29 percent increase in total domestic booking volume across Almosafer channels.
Flights saw a 27 percent increase compared to聽the same period聽last year聽while聽hotel bookings rose by nearly double at 40 percent in the same duration.
With 黑料社区鈥檚 tourism sector booming, travelers are keen to make the most of their breaks as they focus on in-destination experiences.
The addition of more flight routes, an increase in capacity, and the opening of new airports in the Kingdom has led to more affordable flight options on low-cost carriers, while Saudi travelers are willing to spend on luxury stays聽with聽51 percent of hotel bookings on the platform being for 5-star properties and experiences, they聽are taking advantage of budget-friendly flight options.
Data showed an overall jump from 55 percent in 2023 to 62 percent among travelers opting to fly low-cost this year.
Internationally this year聽46聽percent of total bookings were done for low-cost carriers compared to 44 percent in 2023.聽
In terms of聽international destinations, Dubai, Doha, Manama, Cairo, and Istanbul remain the top favorites among Saudis.聽At the same time, there has been a significant shift of focus toward South Asia and the Far East聽with聽Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangkok increasingly seeing more footfall from Saudi travelers.
European capitals聽including聽Madrid and聽Amsterdam聽are also emerging as trending destinations for bookings made in the first four months of 2024.
It is worth noting that the Kingdom hosted 27.4 million international and 79.3 million domestic tourists in 2023, witnessing 65 percent and 2 percent growth compared with 2022, respectively.
The tourism sector has become聽important聽to the national economy, as spending on tourism by domestic and international tourists exceeded SR250 billion ($66.7 billion) in 2023.聽The sector聽is set聽to contribute 10 percent聽to the non-oil gross domestic product and create聽1 million job opportunities by 2030. This spending represented more than 4 percent of the Kingdom鈥檚 GDP and 7 percent of the non-oil GDP, highlighting the significance of the tourism sector to the Kingdom鈥檚 economy.
According to a World Tourism Barometer report released in January 2024, 黑料社区 topped聽UN Tourism鈥檚 ranking for the growth of international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared聽with 2019 among聽large聽destinations, achieving a 56 percent increase in international tourist arrivals.
Additionally, the report indicated that 黑料社区 recorded a remarkable tourism recovery rate of 156 percent in international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared with 2019.
These notable achievements have positioned the Kingdom as a leader in the Middle East鈥檚 global tourism recovery. It was the only region to surpass pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with a 122 percent recovery rate in international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared with 2019.
