Saudi Arabia continues to develop its tourism sector as part of its 2030 vision to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.
In 2023, Algerian tourists were the second largest source of tourists in Africa, with more than half a million arrivals.
To boost its tourism sector, Saudi Arabia has introduced the electronic visa since 2019, currently open to a total of 66 countries around the world, including Algeria – under certain conditions: having a valid visa/residency in Europe or the United States.
In its latest activity report for the year 2023, cited this week by the Economy Middle East newspaper, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism revealed that the country welcomed 27.4 million tourists in 2023, a figure up 64.8% compared to 2022 (16.6 million).
523,000 Algerian tourists visited Saudi Arabia in 2023
Last year, countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East accounted for the largest share of international tourists.
Tourists from Europe amounted to 2.7 million, while tourist arrivals from the African continent reached two million during the same year, according to the same report.
Regarding arrivals from Africa, Algerians were the second source of visitor arrivals in Saudi Arabia. There were indeed 523,000 tourists, including pilgrims , who entered the country during this year. Egyptians were the main source with 2.6 million arrivals.
Sudanese tourists come in third with 447,000 arrivals, followed by Moroccans with 290,000 arrivals, Nigerians with 229,000 arrivals and Tunisian tourists with 146,000 arrivals.
France is the 4th European country in terms of tourist arrivals in Saudi Arabia
Furthermore, the report reveals that Bahrain was Saudi Arabia’s top source market in 2023, with 3.4 million tourists, followed by Egypt and Pakistan, with 2.6 and 2.5 million tourists respectively.
Saudi Arabia’s four other largest source markets are Kuwait with 2.3 million, the United Arab Emirates with 1.4 million, Qatar with 1.1 million and Oman with 455,000 visitors.
Tourists from Europe amount to 2.7 million. France is the 4th European country in terms of tourist arrivals in Saudi Arabia, with 167,000 French tourists in 2023, after the United Kingdom and its 370,000 tourists.
Saudi Arabia also welcomed 470,000 tourists from the Americas. The United States was the largest source of tourists from the Americas with 331,000 tourists, followed by Canada with 104,000 arrivals and Brazil with 12,000 arrivals.
