Domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia expected to reach SR101.3bn in 2020

    Dumped value of 'ID':
'151434';

Dumped value of 'images_loop':
[
    {
        'caption' => '',
        'col' => 'picture',
        'name' => 'sauditourismlogo.jpg',
        'url' => '/7/54757-sauditourismlogo.jpg'
    }
];

Addressing the audience at the Saudi Travel & Tourism Investment Market (STTIM), Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalifa, SAMA secretary-general said that tourism accounted for 3% to the country's GDP in 2006. He added that his agency recently issued its annual report which gathers information on the number of trips, hotel occupancy rates and total sector income in addition to comparative statistics with other GCC countries.

Dr. Al-Khalifa stated that more than 342.000 employees are working in tourism sector in the Kingdom in areas related to hotels, resorts, furnished apartments, cafes, travel agencies, transportation and entertainment. 'The number of employees working in hotels and resorts reached 47.000 employees, 21% of them being Saudis. While employees working in furnished apartments reached 26.000, 19% of them being Saudis.'

During the session, Dr. Mohamed Al-Ahmed, general director of Research and Tourism Information (MAS), which is affiliated with STTIM, talked about the Saudi Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) model, which tracks travel and tourism's economic contribution, The TSA was adopted in 2001 by the United Nations Statistical Commission.

'The TSA provides a methodology that is internationally approved and includes measurement of expenditure on tourism by domestic and international tourists. It also tracks the size of the industry, including its contribution to GDP and employment.'

Dr. Al-Ahmed noted that the commission completed its 2005 TSA tracking which revealed that the total expenditure on domestic tourism reached SR57.8 billion, of which SR35.5bn on the local tourism and SR22.2bn on foreign tourism. The sector's contribution amounted to SR36.4bn, of which SR10.1bn on was spent on worker compensation. The operating surplus and mixed income reached SR26.3bn in 2005.

The TSA in 2005 noted that the added value of tourism sector in the Kingdom reached 3.1% of GDP, and 6.4% of the non-oil GDP. The number of employees working in tourism sector reached 314.000 employees representing 5.2% of the total labor force in the Kingdom for both the public and private sectors. Employees working in the sector were from both the public and private sectors with Saudis representing 15% of the total workforce in the industry.