Employment in the tourism sector rose 4.1% y-o-y in 1Q 2025 to 983.3k workers, according to Gastat’s latest tourism statistics report (pdf). Saudi employees made up 24.8% of the workforce at 243.4k workers, while the remaining 75.2% were non-Saudis.

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As a share of the total workforce, employment in the tourism industry fell 0.3 percentage points y-o-y to 5.4%. Meanwhile, the share of tourism jobs in the private sector dipped to 8.1%, down 0.6 percentage points from 1Q 2024.

REMEMBER- The Kingdom will implement a three-phase Saudization plan for 41 private tourism professions, with phase one beginning in April of next year.

Hospitality facilities surged: The number of licensed tourism hospitality facilities jumped 78% y-o-y to 5k by the end of 1Q 2025, including 2.4k hotels — up 67.5% — and 2.6k serviced apartments and similar facilities — up 89.1%.

Mixed occupancy trends: Hotel room occupancy reached 63% during the quarter, up 2.1 percentage points y-o-y, while occupancy in serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities fell 3.8 percentage points y-o-y to 50.7%.

Room rates diverged: The average daily hotel room rate dropped 3.4% y-o-y to SAR 477. However, rates in serviced apartments and other facilities rose 7.2% to SAR 209.

Steady hotel stays: Hotel guests’ average stay remained unchanged y-o-y at 4.1 nights in the first quarter. Serviced apartment guests stayed an average of 2.1 nights, down 4.5% y-o-y.

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