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KSA’s tourism sector is the fastest growing of all G20 countries

Article-KSA’s tourism sector is the fastest growing of all G20 countries

KSA Saudi Arabia Skyline
The recently updated UWTO Tourism Barometer highlights impressive tourism growth from pre-pandemic levels. KSA is noted as a strong example of this.

According to the UNWTO Tourism Barometer, proving that Saudi Arabia is booming. Reports have shown an astonishing 121% increase in growth from pre-pandemic international travel levels. This positions Saudi Arabia as the fastest expanding tourism industry within G20 countries.

The significant rebound acknowledges Saudi Arabia's major investments in tourism. A level of investment that when combined with infrastructure spending is over $1 trillion since 2016. But it also acknowledges the nation's innovative leadership in protecting its tourism industry for the future.

Saudi Arabia responded rapidly to the pandemic and quickly distributed vaccinations to achieve high immunization rates. This boosted the lifting of restrictions and the reopening of the nation to visitors. To help businesses and workers in the tourism industry and lessen the consequences of the pandemic, the government was also quick to put in place several measures.

STRENGTH OF GLOBAL TOURISM LEVELS

International tourism visits nearly tripled from January to July 2022. They saw a worldwide increase of 172% which is huge when compared to the same period in 2021. This indicates that the industry on a global scale has also nearly recovered to its pre-pandemic levels.

THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM TO THE SAUDI ECONOMY

Tourism is a fundamental pillar of Saudi Arabia’s transformational Vision 2030 goals. They aim to have the industry contribute 10% of the country's GDP. But is also important they create one million jobs as part of the process.

One of many impressive examples of this is the Rua Al-Madinah project. Once completed, this project is anticipated to provide 93,000 jobs and boost KSA’s GDP by AED 136 million ($37 million).

The leadership's multifaceted strategy for controlling the pandemic and boosting the sector's rate of recovery is largely responsible for the success.

The UNWTO Tourism Barometer's validation of Saudi Arabia's accomplishments represents a significant turning point in the country's remarkable recovery. The multifaceted strategy used by the leadership to control the pandemic and quicken the speed of recovery in the industry is largely responsible for the success.

As a whole, they have already achieved remarkable progress towards their grand Vision 2030 targets.

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