Saudis vacationing abroad spend over SR2.8 billion

The Tourist Information and Research Center (MAS) revealed that 766,300 Saudi tourists left the Kingdom during the midterm holiday and spent around SR2.8 billion, with an average of SR3,611 per tourist. The number of visitors coming to the Kingdom during the same period reached 740,200, with an overall disbursement of SR2.3 billion, an average of SR 3,133 per tourist.
MAS pointed out in a survey for tourist flights during the midterm holiday that Bahrain ranked first in terms of receiving Saudi tourists at 210,000, followed by Kuwait with 94,000 and the United Arab Emirates with 87,000.
As for non-Saudis who entered the Kingdom through its various ports, Kuwait ranked first with 207,000 nationals coming to KSA, followed by Bahrain with 138,000 and the United Arab Emirates with 80,000.
The report showed that the midterm holiday witnessed a decrease in the number of Saudi tourists who left the Kingdom, by 9.5 percent, while the number of incoming visitors increased by 5.4 percent.
According to the survey, more than 1.16 million people visited tourist festivals during the holidays, which reflects the positive response to these events and their economic impact, which benefited the country.
The 29 tourist festivals and activities held during the mid term holiday were organized by the tourism development councils in partnership with other governmental bodies, with the number of visitors flocking to these events reaching 2.2 million.
As for tourist circuits held in various parts of the Kingdom, they amounted to more than 692,000 tours, contributing to the country's treasury more than SR596 million.
MAS issues its statistics report periodically after the holiday seasons. This data is prepared in partnership with the National Information Center (NIC) and the Ministry of Interior. It monitors departing and arriving numbers of passengers throughout the Kingdom’s ports. The NIC provides the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities with monthly information about the number of outbound and incoming visitors, which MAS collects and analyzes.
Thanks to this cooperation, MAS can prepare researches and studies on the issue and present it to its partners, so as to develop sustainable tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.