Saudis have spent about 13.5 billion riyals ($3.6 billion) on domestic tourism during the past three months.
Saudi cities have received more than 11.3 million tourism trips, a growth rate of 12 percent compared to previous summers.
The number of incoming tourist trips reached 2.3 million, a growth rate of 21.2 percent compared to the previous year while the revenues from tourist trips for this summer amounted to 8.7 billion riyals ($2.23 billion). This excludes the expenses of tourism trips for religious purposes, the Tourism Information and Research Center (MAS) in Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) revealed on Monday.
Meanwhile, MAS data showed a decline in the expenditure of Saudis traveling abroad.
The expenditure of departing tourists amounted to about 30.5 billion riyals ($8.1billions), a drop by 4.6 percent from 2017, with an average expenditure of 1,196 riyals per tourist (318 dollars).
These figures are consistent with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase non-oil revenues and consider the tourism sector as attractive for investment, according to economic analyst and accounting professor at Taif University Dr. Salem Baajaja.
"This year’s figures are only the beginning,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that the rise in terms of high spending and tourism income growth is in line with the Kingdom’s vision.
“I think the 15 percent increase in tourism will be accompanied by further increases in income growth over the next few years," he added.
According to the report, the Makkah region topped the number of domestic tourism trips by 31 percent, followed by Asir with 18 percent, the Eastern Province by 12 percent and Riyadh by 11 percent.
Regarding the purpose of the domestic tourism trips, entertainment was at the forefront at 51 percent, followed by visiting relatives and friends with 35 percent, shopping with five percent and business with four percent.
The eastern region topped the most popular destinations for tourists by 45 percent, followed by Riyadh by 27 percent and Makkah by 16 percent.
