Tourism

Best Western Hotels to increase Saudi footprint

May 12, 2025, 1:57 PM

Al Haram Mosque and Kaaba, Mecca. With Saudi Arabia aiming for 150 million tourist visits by 2030, Best Western is expanding to service increasing demand, including religious travellers — Al Haram Mosque and Kaaba, Mecca. Saudi Arabia is aiming for 150 million tourists by 2030 and Best Western is expanding to service increasing demand, including religious travellers

Ambitious growth planned
Saudi tourism market is target
Focus on mid-market demand

Best Western Hotels and Resorts plans to increase more than six-fold the number of hotels it operates in Saudi Arabia to tap a growing market in domestic and international business and leisure travel, the Arizona-based company said.

BWH currently runs seven hotels, has 21 under development and is targeting as many as 45 by the end of 2027, said Wytze Van den Berg, vice president of international operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Saudi Arabia is spending up to $1 trillion on projects, including leisure and events, to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. Last year it welcomed a record 30 million international visitors and is targeting 150 million domestic and international tourist visits in 2030.

“Because the economy is booming, people tend to travel from one side to the other,” Van den Berg told AGBI. “So they’re looking at shops, retail, petrol stations and along the roads in Saudi, together with hotels.”

Although the fastest growth markets for hotels are in the two biggest cities of Riyadh and Jeddah, BWH sees demand rising in smaller cities too.

“When we’re talking with some of our partners in Saudi, they see a lot of opportunities in even tertiary cities,” he said.

Saudi Arabia needs to build 360,000 hotel rooms by 2030 to meet expected demand, government officials have said.

Just five years apart, the kingdom is scheduled to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, the 2030 Riyadh Expo and the 2034 World Cup.

The country is also developing the cities of Mecca and Medina, home to Islam’s two holiest sites, with the aim of increasing the annual number of religious tourists from 18.5 million last year to 30 million in 2030.

Upscale destinations across the country, including Red Sea Global and AlUla, have spearheaded investment in the luxury end of the hotel market.

But the biggest demand growth for hotels is likely to be in the mid-market, analysts have said.

BWH’s SureStay brand will join a growing number of hotels catering to this market.

“These hotels are built for domestic people and people from the region doing business in the region,” said Van den Berg. “And since that is where we came from, that is why we’re expanding so fast.”