Travel & Tourism in Saudi Arabia is growing at a much faster rate than the wider economy, according to major new research released today by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

The total contribution of Travel & Tourism to the Saudi economy in 2017 was SAR240.9 billion, once all the direct, indirect and induced benefits were taken into account. This represented an annual rise of 4.6% against GDP growth of 1% for the wider economy.

This shows the Saudi economy is particularly well placed to benefit from Travel & Tourism as part of the diversification of the economy under the Saudi Arabia Vision for 2030.

Other highlights of the report released today show:

Travel & Tourism supported 1.2 million jobs in 2017 (9.1% of total employment)
By 2028 over 1.5 million jobs in Saudi Arabia are forecast to be dependent on Travel & Tourism
Travel & Tourism contributes 9.4% of the total GDP of Saudi Arabia

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said “Travel & Tourism creates jobs, drives economic growth and helps build better societies. This is particularly the case in Saudi Arabia where our sector is growing at over four times the rate of the wider economy. This means the country is particularly well placed to use Travel & Tourism as a driver of economic growth and job creation within the Government’s Saudi Arabia Vision for 2030 masterplan to diversify the economy.”

“Globally, 2017 was one of the strongest years of GDP growth in a decade. Our sector now supports one in ten jobs on the planet and contributes 10% of global GDP. Over the past ten years, one in five of all jobs created across the world has been in the sector and, with the right support from Governments, nearly 100 million new jobs could be created over the decade ahead.”