Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia achieved a surplus of SAR 22.8 billion ($6.07 billion) in the balance of payments for travel items in the first quarter of 2023, compared to a deficit of SAR 1.6 billion in Q1 2022, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Tourism said.
The ministry added that this surplus was achieved due to the significant growth of incoming tourism revenues by about 225 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022, to reach about SAR 37 billion, according to Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) data.
SPA reported that 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 endevour.
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.
Saudi Arabia achieved second place globally in the growth rate of international tourists, as per the World Tourism Organization’s data issued in May of 2023.