On Monday, a Saudi tourism official said that the conservative monarchy hopes to attract more than 70 million tourists after pulling 62 million in the previous year.
Millions of Muslims make the annual pilgrimage to Makkah and Madina, the two holiest places in Islam, to conduct the Hajj and Umrah rituals.
Reuters spoke with Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin during the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. He said that the number of visitors was up 130% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the final quarter of 2019.
“Last year, I believe, was the year with the most domestic travel. And in terms of general recovery of overall travel, we outperformed the world and the area – we reached 72% of pre-pandemic levels of recovery “said “levels,” to his surprise.
“This will be the first time I’ve spoken it…
Over the pre-pandemic period, we have seen an increase of more than 130 percent. “This solely applied to the leisure tourist segment and did not include religious travel, Hamidaddin remarked.
The Red Sea project, a high-end development with resorts on islands and in the interior, is one of many tourism-focused projects Saudi Arabia aims to build in the coming years.
“We’re thrilled that Dubai, like Jordan and Egypt before it, is on the mend and prospering. Moreover, we’d want to do our part, and we feel that everyone’s success depends on ours “In response to a query concerning regional competitiveness, Hamidaddin remarked.