Some 10 million visitors including 40 percent foreigners injected SR11 billion ($2.93 billion) into local tourist festivals and activities in 2013, Al-Hayat daily said quoting experts.

The number of tourist activities stood at 42 by the end of 2013. In addition to fixed jobs, the events created 45,000 temporary openings for job seekers.

Head of the Eastern Province chamber of commerce and industry (EPCCI) Abdulrahman Al-Rashid said inland tourism has begun to overtake outbound tourism. The Eastern Province, Riyadh and Makkah are the three major areas drawing local tourists, Al-Rashid said.

Secretary General of Riyadh chamber of commerce and industry (RCCI) Mohammed Al-Kathiri said the number of tourist festivals had increased from 20 in 2005 to 42 in summer 2013. The 2012 tourist festivities realized revenues worth SR 10.8bn through 10.6 million visitors, he said.

The festival industry has witnessed a remarkable development in the last decade, notably in the area of tourist and marketing promotion where tourism has become one of the major contributors to the gross domestic product (GDP), Al-Kithiri said.

He said tourist festivities and events have become major tourist attractions in many cities. For Dubai, for example, the hot summer season is no longer a barrier to attract visitors where it generated more than EAD 80bn during the last 15 years through its Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) events, he said. Revenues of tourist activities in the Kingdom exceeded the SR 17bn mark in the period covering 2005 up to the end of 2012 he said quoting data released by the Supreme Commission of Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). The areas and regions hosting tourist activities created some 45,000 temporary jobs, he said.

Referring to the Riyadh shopping and entertainment festival which was launched nine years ago, he said the festival has become one of the key festivals in the country and promotes business and tourism activities during the summer season. The event tries to attract large numbers of visitors whose number was estimated at 2.3 million in 2012, he said.