With the objective to double the number of Indian visitors this year, Saudi Tourism Authority has lined up a series of engagements and activities in India this year.

Reinforcigs its commitment to the Indian market to create greater collaborative opportunities, as part of Vision 2030, the Saudi Tourism Authority has strengthened its commitment to creating greater awareness about its extensive tourism and hospitality offers in the Indian market.

According to a press statement, STA has also set an ambitious target of doubling the number of Indian visitors to the country from over 1 million visitors in 2022 to over 2 million in the year 2023.

The statement adds that in order to achieve its target, the STA mounted a delegation visit to India earlier this month, featuring a range of meetings, industry round-tables and networking events including participation at the One World Travel Market in Mumbai (OTM) and the South Asian Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in Delhi.

This was followed up with two roadshows in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) has also, commenced an official partnership with the world’s preeminent Twenty 20 cricket league, the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) at an event held in Mumbai last week.

The statement adds that India is a key source market for Saudi and as part of Saudi’s ambition to achieve 100 million visits annually by 2030, India represents immense potential as it is expected to be one of Saudi’s largest tourism source markets by then. During the course of these engagements, STA held 3,000 plus meetings with leading trade partners and travel buyers to promote Saudi as a holiday destination. They also shared insights around the growing trends of MICE tourism and budget travel.

“We are delighted to showcase the beauty of Saudi and its diverse tourism offerings all across India. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from our partners here and STA is committed to investing, learning and working closely with them to ensure our product offerings are attractive for the Indian market. These engagements are important in helping us achieve ambitious goals and drive visitation numbers from India to Saudi. Last year, we saw 1 million visitors, which has encouraged us to become ambitious about doubling the figures from this region this year. India, we believe, will be the number one tourism source market for us in 2030 as we aim to welcome more than 12 million visitors by then,” says Alhasan Aldabbagh, APAC President at Saudi Tourism Authority, who recently visited India.

“Saudi is a great holiday destination with rich cultural, historical and spiritual sites. It is home to 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites and more than 10,000 archaeological sites that are unexplored and that we are waiting to be explored. This includes historical places like Al Balad in Jeddah and Turaif in Diriyah – the birthplace of Saudi. We also offer a variety of tourism experiences such as the Boulevard World in Riyadh city, Bujairi Terrace home to over 20 retail and lifestyle brands including four Michelin-starred restaurants, Red Sea Project and much more. Apart from our tourism product offerings, we are also  working on many exciting partnership and sponsorship opportunities like the IPL. We believe that the partnership with IPL is one of the first steps in strengthening a culture for the game of cricket in Saudi,” adds Aldabbagh.

He highlights that earlier this month, Saudi Arabia launched the 96-hour stopover visa with a 1-night complimentary hotel stay for visitors flying with Saudia, which makes Saudi more accessible than ever. The Stopover Visa is open to all leisure, business and religious travellers travelling on SAUDIA and flynas, says Aldabbagh.

The statement adds that STA is also opening up nine dedicated visa centers in India by the end of this month, to increase the accessibility and connectivity for Indian travelers to enter Saudi.