Tourism Saudi hotel rates are flat, but tourists are staying longer By Shane McGinley December 24, 2024, 5:08 PM Neom/Unsplash A diver off the coast of Neom. About 106m people visited Saudi Arabia in 2023 Daily room rate hit $194 in Q2 Average stay now above 5 nights Tourists visiting Middle East up 29% Room rates in Saudi hotels are flat, but visitors to the kingdom are staying for longer, according to government figures. The average daily room rate was SAR725.50 ($193.50) in the second quarter of 2024, said the General Authority for Statistics. This was a dip of 0.4 percent year on year. Average room occupancy rates in Saudi hotels reached 55.4 percent during Q2, up 0.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The average length of stays was 5.2 nights, an increase of 17.6 percent on the 4.4 nights recorded in Q2 2023. Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector continues to grow, leading the Public Investment Fund to set up a dedicated hotel management company, Adeera. Khalid Johar, co-head of local real estate portfolio at PIF, said at its launch this month: “The company has the opportunity to grow the sector by introducing new hotel brands as the country is establishing itself as a major tourism destination. Adeera’s unique focus on Saudi culture and traditions will provide a distinctive edge.” In the first nine months of this year, the number of tourists visiting the Middle East was 29 percent up on the pre-pandemic year 2019, according to the UN’s World Tourism Barometer. Opinion: Riyadh will take a measured, domestic approach to World Cup Middle East airlines report lowest demand rise End of ‘blank cheque’ culture for Saudi consultancy Qatar was the region’s top performer, up 141 percent compared to 2019. Saudi Arabia was up 61 percent. About 106 million people visited Saudi Arabia in 2023, surpassing its 2030 target of 100 million seven years early. It has now set a goal of welcoming 150 million visitors by the end of the decade. Inbound visitor spending in the first quarter of this year was SAR45 billion, up 23 percent year on year, said the tourism ministry.
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