The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) hosted its first networking event in Pakistan this week with the aim to spotlight the kingdom as a “destination beyond just religious experiences” and invite visitors to see its pristine beauty and cultural diversity and heritage.
Saudi Arabia is a major religious destination with millions visiting Islam’s two holy cities of Makkah and Madina annually to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. But the kingdom has in recent years started to promote leisure travel as part of a strategy aimed at diversifying the economy away from oil, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Last year, the Saudi government revised its domestic and international visitor target upwards from 100 million to 150 million by 2030.
“The government has a vision to increase this number by three or ten folds in the days to come, as per the vision of Vision 2030 by his Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman and that’s what we are all collectively working on, enhancing this experience,” Dr. Omar Ayoub, Assistant General Manager at Zamzam.com, a partner of STA, told Arab News after the networking event on Thursday.
“The main idea of this event was to showcase Saudi Arabia as a destination beyond just the religious experiences, to see the pristine beauty, the culture, the acceptance, inclusion, diversity of products and services that Saudi has to offer … It’s a combination of different experiences that we would like the world to come and see.”
The Saudi government has taken several measures in recent months to improve tourism numbers, such as relaxing visa conditions including by allowing those with Umrah visas to freely travel around the kingdom.
Last year, Alhasan A. Aldabbagh, President of the Asia-pacific (APAC) markets at STA, had told Arab News Saudi Arabia was targeting more than 3.5 million visitors from Pakistan by 2030. Saudi Arabia expects the fourth edition of Riyadh Season 2023 to attract 10 million to 12 million visitors, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al-Sheikh said in September.
Tourism currently makes up 2-3 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, with investment in the tourism sector, the kingdom aims to increase the share to 10 percent of GDP by 2030.
Saudi Arabia hopes to open the doors of several tourism-focused projects over the next few years, including the Red Sea project, a high-end development that will feature resorts on islands and inland. The kingdom also plans to turn Al-Ula and its majestic rock-hewn tombs of Madain Saleh, the relics of an ancient civilization, into a global tourism destination and eventually attract millions of visitors, local and foreign alike.
Al-Ula’s development is part of a push to preserve pre-Islamic heritage sites in order to attract non-Muslim tourists, strengthen national identity and temper the austere strain of Islam that has dominated Saudi Arabia for decades.