Research reveals domestic tourism growth in Saudi Arabia, with Mecca leading the list of destinations.
Spending on domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia amounted to $11.2 billion from January to September 2015, according to new figures from the Kingdom's Tourism Information and Research Centre (MAS).
Domestic tourism spending is expected to grow further to $13 billion at the end of 2015 and hit nearly 26.6 billion by 2020.
The report also showed that the number of domestic trips increased 56% from 23.8 million in 2013 to 37.1 million in 2014.
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During the same period, spending on tourism increased 84% from $6.2 billion to $11.5 billion.
Tourist spending on food and beverages took the lead on all expenditures, followed by accommodation and restaurants, recreation and culture and transportation, the report added.
Leading the list of domestic destinations is Mecca, bringing in 14.7 million in domestic trips compared with roughly 9.8 million during 2013, representing a growth of 50%.
Medina followed Mecca and accounted for 14% of arrivals, with approximately 5.2 million trips of the total number of domestic trips in 2014, compared with 2.9 million in 2013, a growth of 77%.
A recent report by The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities also predicted a boom in the field of hotel facilities and projects in Saudi over the next two years, and calculated an estimated investment of $38.4 billion by 2020.
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