Joint investments could benefit tourism sectors of Saudi Arabia and Qatar
Tourism has emerged as one of the most rapidly expanding sectors, contributing almost 10% of global economic output and supporting more than 350 million jobs. That is according to a joint research publication by Strategic Gears and Strategy Hub, which maps the tourism ecosystem and explores ways the two nations could work together.
In the Gulf region, the tourism industry serves as a primary tool for economic change, cultural exchange, and long-term development. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are leading this shift by placing tourism at the center of their national plans to move away from oil reliance.
The KSA has used tourism to create private sector jobs, improve public wellbeing, and promote its heritage to a global audience. For their part, Qatar has established itself as a premier hub for international events.
Saudi tourism on the rise
Saudi Arabia is pursuing an ambitious path through its National Tourism Strategy, backed by a planned investment of $1 trillion by 2030. From 2019 to 2024, there was an 80% increase in domestic visitors and a 76% increase in foreign visitors. The Kingdom aims to attract 150 million overnight visitors annually by the end of the decade.
Significant progress is already visible, as the country welcomed 116 million tourists in 2024, including 30 million international arrivals. This growth has created nearly 960,000 jobs in tourism-related fields, representing a 70% increase since the nation opened to non-religious travelers in 2019.
A major part of the Saudi strategy involves massive construction projects. One such development is Diriyah, a $63.2 billion project that seeks to draw 27 million visitors every year. These efforts are supported by new infrastructure, such as the King Salman International Airport in Riyadh, which is designed to eventually handle 185 million passengers annually.
The government has also simplified travel by introducing digital visas for 49 countries and offering free transit visas.
Qatar looks to sports and events
Qatar is also seeing record-breaking results following its successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2022. That event alone attracted 1 million international visitors and reached a global audience of 5 billion people. To prepare, the country invested $220 billion in world-class stadiums and transportation systems like the Doha Metro. The tournament generated up to $4.1 billion in tourism revenue, which accounted for approximately 1% of the national economic output that year.
Since the World Cup, Qatar has maintained its momentum. In 2024, the nation reached an all-time high of 5.08 million international visitors. Spending by these travelers reached $10.7 billion, while the tourism sector supported over 334,500 jobs. The country is now focusing on attracting 6 million visitors every year through a mix of cultural sites, family entertainment, and business events.
Beyond leisure travel, both nations are becoming hubs for international business and sports. Saudi Arabia will host the World Expo 2030 and the FIFA World Cup 2034, while Qatar continues to attract major gatherings like the Web Summit and the Qatar Economic Forum.
Deeper collaboration
The researchers suggest that the next step for the region involves deeper cooperation between the two neighbors. By creating joint travel packages and sharing expertise, Saudi Arabia and Qatar could build a combined tourism market that is even more powerful than their individual efforts.
“Across the globe, tourism diversification has been a notable trend in the GCC, with significant potential still to be realized,” according to the joint report.
“For Saudi Arabia and Qatar, markets are graduating from isolated offerings to diversified portfolios, touching service delivery, employment, productivity, and competitiveness across adjacent sectors. Yet both markets still capture only a portion of their addressable demand, with the greatest untapped gains unlikely to be covered by individual scale-ups alone.”
“As Saudi Arabia and Qatar scale their ambitions, the ability to foresee strategic complementarity in investments to deliver a distinctive tourism offering that stands out globally will be a defining test of success for the next decade.”
