Saudi Arabia registered more international arrivals than any other Arab nation during the first nine months of 2022, as government officials aim to attract 100 million annual visitors by the end of this decade.
In line with Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 program, which features tourism as one of its key pillars, a new law was issued by the Saudi Arabian cabinet in August aimed to improve the competitiveness of the tourist industry. The new law grants businesses special licenses, as well as support from the ministry — which is creating an all-inclusive platform for tourism stakeholders — and will end up boosting the tourism sector’s GDP contribution by 10 percent in addition to creating a million job opportunities.
Figures released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reveal that Saudi Arabia attracted more than 18 million inbound visits in the first three quarters of 2022, followed by the United Arab Emirates (14.8 million tourists) and Morocco (11 million tourists). Other countries in the region that ranked in the top 10 were Syria (8.5 million tourists), Tunisia (5.7 million tourists), Egypt (5.2 million), Bahrain (4.3 million), Jordan (3.5 million), Qatar (2.9 million), and Oman (2.3 million), Algeria (2 million), Lebanon (1.6 million), Iraq (1.5 million), Yemen (1 million), Sudan (800,000) and Palestine (400,000). Kuwait (203,000) attracted the lowest .
