The Kingdom recorded a 22.9% increase in spending by international visitors during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023, with their total spending exceeding 45 billion riyals, while the travel balance of payments recorded a surplus estimated at 24 billion riyals, with a growth rate in the surplus exceeding 46% compared to the same period in 2023.

Spending by travelers from the Kingdom to foreign countries is estimated at approximately 21 billion riyals during the same period, according to preliminary data from the Saudi Central Bank on the travel item in the balance of payments.

The increase in spending by visitors arriving in the Kingdom from abroad is part of a series of ongoing successes achieved by the tourism sector in the Kingdom, where the Kingdom ranked first on the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s list for the growth rate of international tourist arrivals and for the growth rate of tourism revenue among the world’s top tourist destinations in 2023 compared to 2019.

The data also confirms the effectiveness of the efforts made by the tourism sector to achieve global leadership by implementing best practices in tourism development and improving tourism services and products, in addition to ongoing cooperation with all government agencies to support the development of the tourism sector in the Kingdom.

This achievement reflects the scale of efforts made by the Ministry of Tourism and other stakeholders in the Saudi tourism sector to strengthen the tourism sector and contribute to the growth of the national economy, and it comes within the framework of the National Tourism Development Strategy.