Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khatib confirmed that the Kingdom is working on developing new tourism destinations and options targeting the middle and upper middle classes, in addition to continuing to implement luxury projects aimed at wealthy tourists, as part of its efforts to diversify the tourism sector and achieve the targets of Kingdom Vision 2030.
Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khatib said.
New tourist destinations for the middle classes
In remarks on the sidelines of the annual United Nations tourism conference hosted by Riyadh for the first time, Al-Khatib explained that the ministry has started building tourist destinations dedicated to the middle and upper middle class, indicating that these groups will have accommodation options and services commensurate with their financial capabilities, saying: «We will not ignore this segment.»
He added that the plan includes He added that the plan includes the opening of 10 new resorts in the coming months on Shibara Island on the Red Sea coast, with prices much lower than the current luxury resorts, which cost about $2,000 per night.
He added that the plan includes the opening of 10 new resorts in the coming months on Shibara Island on the Red Sea coast. The Kingdom aims to attract 150 million visitors annually by 2030, a third of them from abroad, stressing that religious tourism remains a key focus of the plans, as the Kingdom seeks to increase the number of pilgrims and Umrah pilgrims to 30 million during the same period, while expanding the construction of thousands of new hotel rooms to accommodate the increasing numbers.
Minister of Tourism Al-Khatib pointed out that the Kingdom aims to increase the number of pilgrims and Umrah performers to 30 million during the same period. Al-Khatib noted that Saudi Arabia is also working to boost regional tourism by launching a unified visa for GCC countries, similar to the Schengen visa, which is expected to be activated between 2026 and 2027.
Al-Khatib noted that Saudi Arabia is also working to promote regional tourism.
