Business | Tourism
Visitor numbers on rise in Saudi Arabia report
There has been a huge increase in the flow of tourists into Saudi Arabia in recent years.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 July 1, 2006
Riyadh: There has been a huge increase in the flow of tourists into Saudi Arabia in recent years.
According to the latest figures, the number of tourist trips to the kingdom during the first half of 2005 reached 3.278 million. There were about 6.817 million domestic tourism trips in the same period The money spent on dom-estic tourism reached 6.724 billion Saudi riyals.
About 39 per cent of that was spent on shopping, 16 per cent on accommodation and 14 per cent on transport.
According to a report in Al Rased Al Siyahi, the largest number of tourist trips in the first half of 2005 were made by people from Egypt, followed by Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
"About 37 per cent of the trips were for religious purposes, and the trips for work and attending conferences make up 31 per cent. Around 12 per cent of the trips were held for visiting relatives and friends," the report added
According to the publication, half the tourists came by air, 47 per cent by land and the remaining three per cent by sea.
"About 49 per cent of foreign tourists preferred to stay at hotels, while 18 per cent chose special homes for tourists. The average stay was nine nights," the report said adding that the total money spent by foreign tourists during the period hit 9.3 billion riyals.
Of the total money, 63 per cent was spent on accommodation, 16 per cent on communications, 13 per cent on shopping and five per cent on food and drink.
The report also said nearly a third of domestic tourist trips were undertaken to Makkah, followed by Riyadh with 18 per cent, Eastern region 14 per cent and Madinah region 11 per cent.
Of these trips, about 39 per cent was undertaken to visit relatives and friends while vacations made up 31 per cent. Religious visits accounted for nine per cent.
An overwhelming majority of domestic trips (78 per cent) were undertaken via land and the remaining 22 per cent by air. About 70 per cent of domestic tourists preferred private vehicles for their travel whereas only six per cent chose buses.
According to the report, the majority of tourist trips outside the kingdom were undertaken to the Middle East with 714,000 visits. South Asia came next with 40,000.
About 51 per cent of the trips undertaken were by land and 48 per cent by air. Nearly 74 per cent of the trips were held for spending vacation while 14 per cent for visiting relatives and friends, and nine per cent for work reasons.
According to the report, the majority of tourist trips outside the kingdom were undertaken to the Middle East with 714,000 visits.
South Asia came next with about 40,000 trips.
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