Saudi tourism to create more jobs in 2019 than UAE, Bahrain: report

In 2018, travel & tourism sector in Saudi Arabia created around 1.1 million jobs which in 2019 is expected to increase to over 1.4 million, higher than the UAE and Bahrain combined, according to the figures shared exclusively with Argaam by the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Also read: 6 major tourism projects underway in Saudi Arabia

WTTC is going to release a detailed report on the Kingdom’s travel and tourism sector this week. According to the preliminary figures shared, the sector is expected to generate 109,000 in Bahrain and around 753,000 in the UAE this year.

Further, as per the preliminary figures, international visitors spent $14.08 billion in Saudi Arabia last year, compared with $37.3 billion in UAE and $3.9 billion in Bahrain.

WTTC said the contribution of Saudi travel & tourism sector in the Kingdom’s GDP was 9 percent or $65 billion of total economy in 2018, slightly lesser than 9.4 percent a year earlier.

Further, according to WTTC’s previous figures, in 2017 the total contribution of the sector to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts was SAR 240.9 billion (9.4 percent of GDP).

Again, in 2017, the total contribution of the sector to employment (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts) was 1,116,500 jobs (9.1 percent of total employment).