Riyadh city
The number of employees working in thetourism sector in Saudi Arabia rose by 4% year-on-year (YoY) in Q4 2024 to 966,500, data issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.
Saudi employees represented 25% of the total workforce in tourism activities or 242,100 employees, while non-Saudis comprised 75% of the sector’s total employees at 724,500.
The following table shows the number of employees working in tourism duringQ4 2024:
Tourism Employees (‘000) | |||
Employees | Q4 2023 | Q4 2024 | Change |
Saudis | 244.90 | 242.07 | (1%) |
Non-Saudis | 684.51 | 724.46 | +6% |
Total | 929.40 | 966.53 | +4% |
The following table shows the number of employees working in tourism since Q1 2023:
Tourism Employees (‘000) | |||
Period | Saudis | Non-Saudis | Total |
Q1 2023 | 239.74 | 660.79 | 900.53 |
Q2 | 242.11 | 670.08 | 912.20 |
Q3 | 243.95 | 675.22 | 919.17 |
Q4 | 244.90 | 684.51 | 929.40 |
Q1 2024 | 247.71 | 696.59 | 944.30 |
Q2 | 245.91 | 713.27 | 959.18 |
Q3 | 240.77 | 707.86 | 948.63 |
Q4 | 242.07 | 724.46 | 966.53 |
Data indicated that the number of male employees in tourism activities reached approximately 838,000, accounting for nearly 87% of the sector’stotal, while the number of female workers reached about 128,600, or over 13% of the total number of workers in tourism duringQ4 2024.
The food and beverage servicessegment accounted for the largest number of employees in Q4 2024, with nearly 637,900 workers, representing 66% of the total workforce, followed by the visitor accommodation segment, with approximately 132,000 employees.
The following table indicates is the total number of employees in tourism by segment:
Tourism Employees (‘000) | |||
Activity | Male | Female | Total |
Food and beverage services | 570.21 | 67.69 | 637.89 |
Visitor accommodation | 109.73 | 22.19 | 131.91 |
Retail trade in specialgoods | 47.89 | 14.40 | 62.29 |
Passenger land transport | 28.10 | 2.95 | 31.05 |
Travel agencies and reservation services | 16.99 | 3.77 | 20.75 |
Passenger air transport | 14.49 | 6.21 | 20.70 |
Transport charter | 18.76 | 1.59 | 20.35 |
Other services in the sector | 13.93 | 4.65 | 18.58 |
Sports and entertainment activities | 9.78 | 3.76 | 13.54 |
Passenger rail transport | 4.11 | 0.19 | 4.30 |
Cultural activities | 2.66 | 0.93 | 3.60 |
Passenger water transport | 1.35 | 0.25 | 1.59 |
Total | 837.97 | 128.56 | 966.53 |
Riyadh topped the Kingdom’s regions in terms of the number of workers in tourism activities, atnearly 320,600, representingabout 33% of the total, followed by Makkah region with approximately 269,000 workers, as shown in the following table:
Distribution of Employees by Region (‘000) | ||
Region | Number of Employees (‘000) | Percentage of Total (%) |
Riyadh | 320.62 | 33.2% |
Makkah | 268.95 | 27.8% |
Eastern Region | 146.90 | 15.2% |
Madinah | 57.00 | 5.9% |
Asir | 46.52 | 4.8% |
Qassim | 32.19 | 3.3% |
Jazan | 27.52 | 2.8% |
Tabuk | 21.62 | 2.2% |
Hail | 12.48 | 1.3% |
Najran | 10.42 | 1.1% |
Al-Jouf | 8.02 | 0.8% |
Northern Borders | 7.25 | 0.8% |
Al-Baha | 7.04 | 0.7% |
Total | 966.53 | 100% |
Hotel room occupancy reached approximately 56% during Q4 2024, while room occupancy in serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities reached 55.9%.
Occupancy Rates for Serviced Apartments, Other Hospitality Facilities & Hotels | ||
Period | Hotels (%) | Serviced Apartments & Other Hospitality Facilities (%) |
Q1 2023 | 63.2% | 53.0% |
Q2 | 54.9% | 50.9% |
Q3 | 53.4% | 56.2% |
Q4 | 60.2% | 55.4% |
Q1 2024 | 60.9% | 54.5% |
Q2 | 55.4% | 52.4% |
Q3 | 46.1% | 58.0% |
Q4 | 56.0% | 55.9% |
Below are the occupancy rates for serviced apartments, other hospitality facilities, and hotels by region during the fourth quarter of 2024.
Room Occupancy Rate by Region | ||
Region | Serviced Apartment Rooms (%) | Hotels (%) |
Riyadh | 71.5% | 72.0% |
Madinah | 48.7% | 74.8% |
Eastern Region | 59.6% | 60.2% |
Makkah | 46.9% | 49.3% |
Tabuk | 51.4% | 45.5% |
Najran | 57.6% | 41.6% |
Qassim | 50.9% | 46.5% |
Hail | 55.2% | 42.6% |
Asir | 39.9% | 34.8% |
Northern Borders | 43.4% | 45.2% |
Jazan | 50.3% | 44.4% |
Al-Baha | 29.2% | 26.8% |
Al-Jouf | 42.1% | 38.5% |
The average daily rate for a hotel room reached about SAR 440 during Q4 2024, a 2% decrease compared to Q4 2023.
The average daily rate for a room in serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities reached approximately SAR 220 during the same quarter, a 25% increase compared Q4 2023.
Average Daily Rate (SAR) | ||
Period | Hotels (SAR) | Serviced Apartments & Other Hospitality Facilities (SAR) |
Q1 2023 | 515.4 | 168.0 |
Q2 | 790.0 | 174.2 |
Q3 | 442.2 | 172.5 |
Q4 | 449.5 | 175.6 |
Q1 2024 | 494.0 | 194.7 |
Q2 | 668.8 | 198.6 |
Q3 | 353.7 | 200.0 |
Q4 | 440.1 | 219.6 |
The following table shows the average daily rate per room in serviced apartments, other hospitality facilities and hotels in Q4 2024:
Average Daily Rate (SAR) | ||
Region | Rooms in Serviced Apartments | Hotels |
Riyadh | 237 | 1013 |
Tabuk | 137 | 521 |
Eastern Region | 223 | 417 |
Hail | 188 | 412 |
Madinah | 232 | 408 |
Qassim | 139 | 402 |
Makkah | 269 | 345 |
Jazan | 189 | 311 |
Asir | 118 | 292 |
Al-Jouf | 124 | 271 |
Al-Baha | 127 | 270 |
Najran | 94 | 236 |
Northern Borders | 169 | 193 |
The average lengthof stay for a guest in hotels was nearly 3.6 nights during Q4 2024, which is the same average as in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The average period of stay for a guest in serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities was around 2.1 nights during Q4 2024, a decrease of 12.1% compared to Q4 2023, which stood at 2.4 nights.
Average Stay in Serviced Apartments, Hotels,Other Hospitality Facilities (Night) | ||
Period | Hotels | Serviced Apartments & Other Facilities |
Q1 2023 | 3.7 | 2.5 |
Q2 2023 | 4.4 | 2.4 |
Q3 2023 | 3.7 | 2.5 |
Q4 2023 | 3.6 | 2.4 |
Q1 2024 | 4.1 | 2.2 |
Q2 2024 | 5.2 | 2.1 |
Q3 2024 | 4.2 | 2.1 |
Q4 2024 | 3.6 | 2.1 |
The following table shows the average length of stay at hotels, serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities by region in Q4 2024:
Average Lengthof Stay by Region in Q4 2024 (Night) | ||
Region | Hotels | No. of Rooms in Serviced Apartments |
Makkah | 4.1 | 2.0 |
Madinah | 3.5 | 2.4 |
Riyadh | 2.9 | 2.3 |
Tabuk | 2.5 | 2.3 |
Eastern Region | 2.2 | 2.2 |
Najran | 2.1 | 2.3 |
Al-Jouf | 2.0 | 2.1 |
Northern Borders | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Asir | 1.9 | 2.1 |
Qassim | 1.7 | 1.8 |
Jazan | 1.7 | 1.9 |
Al-Baha | 1.6 | 2.0 |
Hail | 1.6 | 1.9 |
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