In 2022, the total expenditure by outbound tourists from Saudi Arabia amounted to about ** billion Saudi Riyals. The figures remained below the pre-pandemic levels of 2018 and 2019, when the outbound spending averaged about ** billion Saudi Riyals.

According to the data provided by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), in 2021, the outbound tourism expenditures accounted for about *** percent share of current account debit in Saudi Arabia. This was a decrease compared to *** percent in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Passenger transport of Saudi Arabia sank by 57.96% from 1,275,000,000 current US dollars in 2019 to 536,000,000 current US dollars in 2020. Since the 49.36% jump in 2017, passenger transport plummeted by 64.57% in 2020. Series 3.4

According to data from the UNWTO, Indonesia's outbound departures only amounted to **** million in 2022, an increased compared to the previous year. The number of outbound departures in 2021 was the lowest in the past 10 years. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Indonesians going overseas had been continuously increasing, though not at the same rate as domestic travels. State of outbound tourism in Indonesia By 2021, the ratio of outbound trips to households in Indonesia was predicted to reach **** percent, nowhere near that of neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. The relatively high costs of outbound travel would make such trips inaccessible to many Indonesians. In 2019, Indonesians spent around **** billion U.S. dollars during their outbound travels. For many of those who traveled abroad from Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, Saudi Arabia was their preferred long-haul destination. This was most likely to fulfil either the hajj or umrah pilgrimage. With the opening up of Saudi Arabia to tourism in 2019, many more Indonesians could be expected to travel there for leisure purposes as well. COVID-19 and its impact on outbound travel The growth in outbound travel in Indonesia was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in global travel restrictions. With Indonesia among the most affected countries in Southeast Asia, many countries had imposed travel restrictions for travelers from there. The reverse was also true, with inbound international tourists decreasing drastically. To make up for the lack of international tourists, the Indonesian government had promoted domestic tourism. The number of domestic trips for holidays and leisure purposes in Indonesia had been on a downward trend, however. Whether this measure would be enough to save Indonesia's tourism-heavy economies such as Bali, remains to be seen.

Tourism expenditures as a share of total imports of Saudi Arabia sank by 33.59% from 7.5 % in 2019 to 5.0 % in 2020. Since the 6.26% jump in 2017, tourism expenditures as a share of total imports plummeted by 47.41% in 2020. International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Their share in imports is calculated as a ratio to imports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.

Inbound tourism in the UAE registered healthy growth during the historic period (2009–2014), with trips increasing from 9.1 million in 2009 to 13.4 million in 2014. The growth was largely driven by the UAE’s efforts to attract tourists by investing in tourism infrastructure such as theme parks and stadiums, and emerging as the global aviation hub by building two world-class airports in Dubai (Dubai International and Al Maktoum International). Additionally, political instability in other key tourist destinations in the Middle East such as Egypt also supported the growth. However, arrivals from Russia dipped by 3% in 2014 due to economic crisis in the country and the depreciation of ruble. Domestic trips totaled 7.6 million in 2014 while outbound trips stood at 4.6 million. Saudi Arabia is the most preferred outbound travel destination for the UAE residents and most trips are religious. They visit Mecca and Medina, which are considered holy places for Muslims Read More

In 2023, the number of international tourists arriving in Saudi Arabia reached approximately **** million visitors. Like many countries in the region, the Kingdom saw a significant drop in visitors in 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions in place from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since then, numbers have significantly rebounded and even surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The country has always received high levels of international visitors who came to visit the two holy cities of Makkah and Al-Madinah. In recent years, they have tried to broaden their offerings to much more leisure, sports, and other holiday-focused travel.

According to the data provided by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), around *** million international travelers visited Saudi Arabia on a package tour in 2020. In total, the number of inbound tourists in Saudi Arabia amounted to approximately **** million that year. Non-religious tourism on the rise The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a long-standing history of religious pilgrimages, namely Hajj and Umrah. Hajj is the pilgrimage made annually to Mecca, which is regarded as the holy city in Saudi Arabia. Religious pilgrimages used to be a pillar of the Kingdom’s tourism industry, attracting millions of pilgrims every year. However, since the introduction of e-Visa in September 2019, an electronic visa service that allows multiple entries for short-term visits within one year, the country has been enjoying growth in the leisure and other non-religious tourism segments. The new visa policy, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals to shift its economic focus to non-oil sectors, seems to have yielded positive public responses and bright promises for the Saudi economy. Tourism in the Saudi Vision 2030 Saudi Vision 2030 lays down the strategic framework for Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification away from its traditional oil-based economy. Tourism in Saudi Arabia remains one crucial driver for the sustainable economic growth of the Kingdom. With an aim to becoming one of the leading global tourist destinations by 2030, Saudi Arabia has been investing in several tourism ‘Giga projects’, such as the ambitious arts, entertainment and sports hub project Qiddiya, and numerous other development projects. By 2030, the Saudi tourism industry is expected to attract a total of *** million visitors, contributing more than ** percent to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product.

Following a high of over *********** British pounds in 2017, spending by visitors from Saudi Arabia in the UK dropped down to *** million pounds in 2018. In 2019, total spending amounted to *** million pounds. Over 100 thousand trips are made by residents of Saudi Arabia to the UK each year.

In 2019, travelers from Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom (UK) spent over *** million British pounds on holiday trips, making it the biggest proportion of travel spending during that year. Meanwhile, travel spend for visits to friends and relatives reached approximately ** million British pounds in that year.