Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s travel and tourism sector’s contributions to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed $81 billion by 2026, according to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
This comes as exhibitors prepare to showcase what the Kingdom has to offer at this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) exhibition, scheduled to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 23 to 27 April 2017.
This figure will likely be driven by domestic tourism. The number of local tourist trips inside Saudi Arabia surpassed 47.5 million in 2016, rising 2.3% from figures recorded in 2015.
“Under the Saudi Government’s Vision 2030, plans are afoot to increase household spending on cultural and entertainment activities inside the country, from 2.9% to 6%,” ATM’s report showed.
“Plans are already well underway to achieve this target. The government has appointed the board of the General Entertainment Authority, and Six Flags has revealed exciting plans to expand into the country, with the first entertainment park scheduled to open as soon as 2020-21,” stated Simon Press, senior exhibition director at ATM 2017.
Under the Vision 2030, the Saudi government aims to double the number of UNESCO heritage sites as means to encourage more domestic tourism.
The Kingdom’s two Holy Mosques have large expansion plans, and both Makkah and Madinah have major infrastructure works in the pipeline that would assist with travel to and within these religious sites, the report said.
At ATM 2017, Saudi exhibitors will showcase what the Kingdom has to offer, including the possible Six Flags theme park. Moreover, Riyadh is expected to see the opening of two major shopping malls, namely: Mall of Saudi, with 300,000 square metres of retail and entertainment space, a large snow park and hotels, and The Avenues Riyadh, a $1.9 billion shopping complex.
“Another mega project that is bound to draw Saudi tourists includes Kingdom Tower in Jeddah – proposed to be the world’s next tallest building,” according to the report.
Worth noting, Colliers International’s Saudi Arabia Hospitality Market report has stated that Saudi Arabia’s domestic tourism will grow by 7.5% annually until 2020, compared to 6.1% for overseas visitors.
