‘We aim to welcome over 12 million Indian visitors a year by 2030’

Tourism in Saudi Arabia has been growing rapidly in recent years and it has become an increasingly popular destination for travellers from all over the world including India. Saudi Arabia has made significant efforts to promote tourism and open up the country to international visitors. In fact, for Indian travellers, it is trying to improve accessibility by increasing the number of visa offices here. To understand more, BW HOTELIER spoke with Alhasan Aldabbagh, President of APAC Markets, Saudi Tourism Authority. 

Excerpts:

How important is the Indian market for Saudi Arabia?

India has long been an important partner for Saudi, reflecting the centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. Our goal is to connect and build affinity between Indian visitors and Saudi Arabia to increase awareness of the incredible destination and what we have to offer the Indian market. Last year, we welcomed one million Indian visitors who had the highest spent across all our source markets globally due to the VFR segment. This year, our aim is to double our visitation numbers to two million. We have already welcomed four lakh Indian travellers during the first quarter of this year and by 2030, we aim to reach over 120 lakh Indian visitors.

Which cities are your major source markets in India?

India is a very important strategic market for us. We are currently prioritising Tier I cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kochi and Calicut, ensuring these cities have better airline connectivity and visa accesses. We’re focussing our marketing promotional activities in those cities as well and working closely with our key trade partners.

Do you have any offices in India at present?

Yes, we have two – one in Delhi and one in Mumbai, but we can increase the number of offices. 

What are the trends among Indian travellers visiting Saudi? Do they travel for wellness, luxury, adventure or culture and history? 

With 930 lakh visits last year, Saudi is outperforming every expectation and setting the pace globally. We know what the Indian travellers look for as 47 per cent of them are seeking culture and heritage followed by luxury city break as per BHT study. I have no doubt that Saudi will become one of the leading destinations globally and we are committed to the Indian travellers. We want them to come to Saudi and be welcomed with open hearts and arms – experience our Hafawa culture, which is the truest form of Arabian hospitality.

Which segment of the Indian market are you targetting?

We are targetting two key segments. The first are families focussing on cultural enthusiasts as we have 13 different regions that boast of unique historical and cultural offerings. Apart from that, our target is the VFR travellers accounting for 27 per cent of all purposes of visits as we have 26 lakh Indian residents in Saudi Arabia.  

Tell us about some cultural and UNESCO heritage sites that you feel will appeal to the Indian market.

We boast of over 10,000 archaeological sites and six UNESCO World Heritage sites. Travellers can explore Turaif in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Arabia. Diriyah has signed several partnerships that will merge luxury with tradition and bring Diriyah’s history and culture alive to visitors. Moreover, Al Balad is a historical town in Jeddah having buildings uniquely shaped built over 100 years and it takes the visitors through a journey of how Saudi people lived back in the days. There is a lot of history which will be shared. AlUla is a living museum of preserved tombs, sandstone outcrops and historic dwellings that hold two lakh years of largely unexplored history. Another must-visit is the UNESCO heritage site of Hegra. Apart from this, the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh brings visitors on a journey through centuries of culture, art and history.

What do you think makes Saudi most competitive as a tourist destination?

Our “Hafawa” culture is a unique aspect. As soon as a tourist enters Saudi and interacts with the local people, they will feel the warmth and a sense of belonging – Saudi is a warm and welcoming destination. Saudi also boasts of some of the world’s most vibrant, untouched coral reefs in the Red Sea. Visitors can snorkel year-round off the coast of Jeddah.

How do you see Saudi’s Tourism evolving in the coming years?

Saudi is undergoing a transformation like no other to build the world’s most dynamic and diverse, year-round tourism destination. We have some great projects underway. Our hospitality pipeline has over 42,000 keys under construction. In 2023 alone, Saudi is set to launch Red Sea Global project with three new hotels opening in Q4, including a Six Senses, St Regis and Nujama – a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Activating our smaller towns with family-friendly and culturally rich experiences will be key to developing our tourism infrastructure which will bring visitors closer to our heritage.

What are the current marketing initiatives undertaken by Saudi Tourism Authority to attract Indian travellers? 

Saudi Tourism Authority has officially launched its seasonal campaign, Rethink Summer, aimed at promoting the country as a diverse, unique summer destination. From the scenic mountains of Taif to the beaches in Jeddah and the coast of the Red Sea as well as a packed entertainment calendar, there is something for all visitors to enjoy and it truly makes Saudi a global destination year-round.

We also entered a partnership with TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) to launch bespoke promotional packages with leading travel agencies like Akbar Travels, Make My Trip, ClearTrip and more to promote Saudi as the leading leisure destination for Indian travellers. We have further plans to launch an upcoming Diwali campaign, which will further showcase Saudi’s interest in enriching the affinity with the Indian travellers.

To make Saudi more personal to Indian visitors, we have collaborated with Bollywood on numerous occasions whether it be filming of SRK’s most recent film, Dunki, or hosting Bollywood stars at the Red Sea Film Festival and hosting the premiere of 83, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Can you highlight the ease of access for Indian travellers to enter the country?

It is now easier than ever to visit Saudi with our 96-hour free stopover visa and we have opened nine VFS Tasheel Visa offices around India to increase accessibility to visit the true home of Arabia. Indian passport holders that have an American, Schengen and European visa and have utilised their visa at least once will be able to apply for e-visas online soon. We have also increased connectivity as we have seven direct carriers – SAUDIA, FlyNas, Air India, Air India Express, Indigo Airlines, SpiceJet and Vistara with a capacity of 58,000 inbound seats per week and we have recently launched a new route by Indigo from Ahmedabad to Jeddah. Currently there are 243 direct flights from India to Saudi Arabia per week, which we plan to increase to 290 per week.