Saudi tourism generates more than $18bn last year

Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector generated SR70bn ($18.66bn) for the kingdom’s economy last year, a leading official has said.

Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al-Jehani, vice president for marketing and media in the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), said this figure accounted for 6.5 percent of the country’s GDP growth.

He told the Saudi Gazette that there are now 40,000 tourist facilities in the kingdom, employing some 445,000 nationals.

“Saudi tourism has an economic weight and is one of the most important sectors in the country in terms of generating job opportunities for nationals,” Al-Jehani told the paper.