Saudi Arabia
Introduction
Travellers from Saudi Arabia made 12.9 million outbound visits in 2023, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$23.2 billion.
In 2023, the UK welcomed a record 286,000 visits from Saudi Arabia. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was £704.4 million, with an average spend of £2,466 per visit.
Discover visitor behaviour, travel trade insights, detailed data visualisations for this market – and more. The statistics in this market report are collated from a range of sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as sponsored questions and our own research. For further details, see How we source this information.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Perceptions of Britain in the Saudi market
- Saudi perceptions see the UK among the top 10 nations in the Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index 2023, ranked in ninth place.
- Britain’s strongest attribute was ‘contemporary culture’, ranked fifth, followed by sports and ‘culture’.
- Saudi respondents strongly associate Britain with ‘films’, ‘museums’, and ‘music’.
- Saudi respondents expect that a trip to Britain would be ‘fascinating’, ‘educational’ and ‘exciting’.
Global context
Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
| Measure | 2023 |
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 23.2 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 16 |
| Number of outbound visits (m) | 12.9 |
| Most visited destination | United Arab Emirates |
| Most visited destination in Western Europe | United Kingdom |
Key demographic and economic data
| Measure | 2023 |
| Population (m) | 36.9 |
| GDP per capita PPP (US$) | 60,673 |
| Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%) | 2.3 |
| Annual GDP growth (%) | -0.8 |
Access to Britain from Saudi Arabia
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
| Measure | 2023 |
| Weekly aircraft departures | 43 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 13,118 |
| Airports with direct routes in Saudi Arabia | 3 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 4 |
- In 2023, three airports in Saudi Arabia served four airports in Britain: Birmingham International, London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Manchester International.
- The highest share of departing seats was on the Riyadh to London Heathrow route in 2023.
- In 2023, the airlines operating the Saudi Arabia to Britain route were British Airways and Saudia.
- Following the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from Saudi Arabaia to the UK tracked 51% higher than 2019 levels in 2023.
- The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for Saudi Arabia is £88.
- Saudi Arabian nationals can pay £15 for a visa waiver (Electronic Travel Authorisation) to enter the UK.
Further resources
Saudi Arabia Market Snapshot.pdf
GCC Market and Trade Profile 2021
Saudi Arabia Aviation Profile
Saudi Arabia COVID-19 Travel Sentiment - Published April 2022
Where visitors from Saudi Arabia to the UK reside in their own country.xlsx
Perceived barriers to exploring Britain beyond London for Saudi Arabians - Published July 2014
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of these data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how this data is collected and analysed.
