Saudi Arabia recorded 29.3 million inbound tourists in 2025 spending SAR 176.6 billion. Asia & Pacific supplies 36% of arrivals, Europe is the fastest-growing source at +18% — and Riyadh Province ranks third by inbound spending at SAR 9.2 billion.
The Ministry of Tourism’s 2025 statistical report counts 122.6 million total tourists — 29.3 million inbound plus 93.3 million domestic — spending SAR 303.7 billion. Inbound visitors averaged SAR 7,027 per hotel trip; 69% arrived by air.
Asia & the Pacific leads the passport table with 10.5 million arrivals (36%) and 47% of inbound spending. Europe posted the fastest growth — arrivals up 17.8% and spending up 20.6% — as the e-visa and events calendar bite.
Makkah and Madinah dominate inbound volumes on pilgrimage traffic; Riyadh Province ranks third in inbound spending at SAR 9.2 billion, with 24.3 million total visits to the province in 2025 — the capital’s tourism is business- and event-led rather than religious.
Riyadh city itself counted 15.7 million overnight visitors spending SAR 35.2 billion — the highest domestic-spend city in the Kingdom, driven by Riyadh Season, the HQ programme and the conference calendar.
Inbound tourists skew male (54%) and 26–45 years old (37% of arrivals) — the signature of a business-plus-diaspora market. GCC neighbours contribute 5.7 million arrivals; the Americas 0.6 million, up 16.4%.
Saudi arrivals are two markets wearing one statistic: pilgrims flowing to the holy cities, and a business-events economy concentrating in the capital. Riyadh’s SAR 9.2 billion of inbound spending at third place understates the point — per visitor, the capital monetises better than anywhere outside Makkah, because its guest flies in for a deal, a summit or a Season, not a ritual.
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