Saudi Arabia witnesses boost in tourism in 2016

Saudi Arabia's tourism sector has seen a rise in tourists during the Umrah season and the recent celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) birthday, according to a recent release by the Elaf Group.

HotelierMiddleEast.com previously reported that during the Holy Month of Ramadan, Makkah, Medinah and other areas of Saudi Arabia experienced increases in RevPAR. 

The country has already started construction of 35,770 rooms in 81 hotels, with 24,133 rooms being constructed in Makkah alone. According to the release, in a bid to further enhance the sector, infrastructure projects to double the capacity and accommodate the number of both Hajj and Umrah visitors to around 5 million and 15 million respectively, are currently underway.

As a result of increased tourism, Abha, the capital of Asir province in Saudi Arabia, has been named capital of Arab Tourism 2017, due in part to a diverse environment, with forests in the parks Soudah, Dulghan, Al-Hubala, and towering highlands in addition to the eastern plains and western coasts.

Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector hopes to employ 1.7 million people by 2020.

To date, the sector has provided more than 1.3 million jobs to young Saudi nationals, said Princess Noura Al Saud, who represents the National Centre for Human Resources in the Tourism Sector.