The Ministry of Tourism has said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia achieved a large surplus in the balance of payments for travel items in the first quarter of 2023, amounting to SR22.8 billion, compared to a deficit of SR1.6 billion in the first quarter of the previous year. The ministry added that this surplus was achieved due to the significant growth of incoming tourism revenues by about 225% compared to the first quarter of 2022, to reach about SR37 billion, as per the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) data.
This achievement is a culmination of the ministry’s efforts to boost the tourism sector and its contribution to the growth of the national economy, which corresponds to the objectives of the National Tourism Development Strategy.
The data issued by (SAMA) confirmed the high contribution of the sector to the Current Account Balance as a result of the Ministry of Tourism’s endeavour, with the support of the Saudi leadership, to place the sector among the best international positions through applying best practices in tourism development and upgrading tourism services and products, in addition to continuous cooperation with all government agencies to support the development of the tourism sector in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has recently accomplished several distinguished achievements in the tourism sector. The Kingdom advanced 16 places in the international tourism revenue index, reaching 11th place in 2022, compared to 27th in 2019 globally. The Kingdom also continued its international achievements in the tourism sector, as it received about 7.8 million tourists during the first quarter of 2023, the highest quarterly performance, achieving a growth of 64% compared to the same period in 2019. Thus, the Kingdom achieved second place globally in the growth rate of international tourists, as per the World Tourism Organization’s data issued in May of 2023.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
