 |
| Saudi Arabia records increase in hospitality facilities in 2026 |
Licensed tourist hospitality facilities in Saudi Arabia recorded a growth of 22.7% to reach 6,122 establishments during the first quarter of 2026, with the continued expansion of capacity to support the growth of the tourism sector.
Data from the General Authority for Statistics showed that serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities constituted the largest number with 3,159 establishments, or 51.6% of the total, compared to 2,963 hotels, or 48.4%.
This expansion comes as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 objectives aimed at strengthening the tourism sector and transforming the Kingdom into a global tourist destination, within the framework of plans to diversify the economy.
The Kingdom had already exceeded its target of 100 million visitors, while the National Tourism Strategy seeks to raise the number to 150 million visitors by 2030.
The authority reported that the number of tourist establishments with employees reached approximately 177,031 establishments in the first quarter of 2026, registering an increase of 9% compared to the same period in 2025, in which the number reached 162,473 establishments.
The total number of workers in the tourism sector also increased by 6.5% to reach approximately 1,047,313 workers, compared to 983,253 workers in the previous year, including 250,094 Saudis and 797,219 non-Saudis.
The report indicated that the average length of stay for hotel guests was 4.2 nights during the first quarter of 2026, a slight increase of 2% compared to 4.1 nights in the same period last year.
In serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities, the average length of stay reached 2.2 nights, an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous year.
The Kingdom’s hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 60.8%, a decrease of 2.1 percentage points compared to 63% last year, while the occupancy rate in serviced apartments rose to 51.6%.
Regarding prices, the average daily hotel room rate decreased to about 423 riyals (approximately $112.63), a decrease of 11.4% year-on-year, while the average price of serviced apartments reached 206 riyals, a slight decrease of 1.2%.
