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More Than 6 Million People Performed Umrah During the Current Season

  • Publish date: Friday، 12 May 2023
More Than 6 Million People Performed Umrah During the Current Season

The Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb shared that more than 6 million people performed Umrah during the current season. 

The Minister shared this information during a virtual monthly meeting with investors from the Saudi tourism sector. He described the performance of Saudi's tourism sector in the first quarter of 2023 as unprecedented in relation to the number of visitors and the amount of tourism spending. 

The number of Umrah pilgrims from inside and outside Saudi Arabia that visited Makkah and Madinah was 6 million and the hospitality sector in both cities recorded historical figures in occupancy rates. 

Not only have more than 6 million people performed Umrah in the current season, but the number of tourists visiting the country for leisure purposes increased by 581% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same time period in 2019. 

The minister also shared that more than SR 600 million has been allocated to develop new tourist destinations within the Kingdom. 

The number of tourists from the Gulf and Middle East countries increased by the rate of 107% compared to 2019. Furthermore, the growth rate of tourists from East Asia reached 49% while the rate of tourists from Europe reached 50%. 

According to the minister, Makkah was the most visited destination by tourists from outside the country with a total number of 4.4 million visitors. The second most visited destination was Riyadh, followed by Dammam and Al Khobar. The last two cities experienced a 96% increase in visitors in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019. 

Visitors to Jeddah increased by 247% in the first quarter of 2023 and the growth rate of tourism reached 419% for Al Ahsa during the same time period.