Saudis spent SAR 78 bln on overseas tourism in 2017

Saudis spent around SAR 78 billion on tourism overseas in 2017, down 20 percent year-on-year (YoY), from a record high of SAR 97.3 billion in 2016, Al-Eqtisadiyah reported.

There were 21.1 million flights that departed from the Kingdom in 2017 reached flights, a 0.6 percent YoY decrease, according to data issued by the Tourism Information and Research Center (MAS).

The largest number of outbound flights from Saudi Arabia landed in Gulf countries last year, accounting for 48 percent of total flights overseas. Meanwhile, flights heading to other Middle Eastern states represented 24 percent.

Flights to South Asia came in third at 2.9 million, followed by European countries at 1.3 million, Africa at 889,000, and East Asia at 758,000.

Flights to North and South America stood at 136,000.

Around SAR 36.6 billion was spent in 2017 on holidays and shopping, while SAR 34.5 billion was spent on visiting friends and families.

Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry has seen sweeping transformation to enhance its contribution to economic diversification, in-line with Vision 2030.

The Kingdom has announced several tourism and entertainment projects in order to increase Saudi spending in local tourism, such as the Red Sea Project, Neom and Al-Qiddiya Project.