Saudi travel proves resilient as Almosafer wagers on the connected trip, CEO says

The travel market is undergoing a structural shift. Domestic tourism, religious travel, and a more diversified international travel map are reshaping how consumers spend on travel. The Kingdom welcomed around 123 mn domestic and inbound tourists in 2025, including 29.3 mn international visitors, while inbound tourism spending topped SAR 172 bn. The momentum has continued into 2026, with domestic tourism trips rising 16% y-o-y in 1Q 2026 and international flights increasing nearly 10%.

Regional geopolitical disruption could weigh on corporate and international family travel. Almosafer, however, says overall booking activity has remained resilient, with travelers increasingly redirecting rather than canceling trips.

We talked to Muzzammil Ahussain, CEO of Almosafer Travel & Tourism Company. Ahussain tells us that domestic travel now accounts for nearly half of the company’s bookings, while stay value in the Kingdom has nearly tripled. Religious travel has also remained a key source of stability, with Makkah and Madinah room nights rising more than 50% y-o-y.

Ahussain also discusses the changing profile of Saudi travelers. He explains how Almosafer navigated the geopolitical shock while delivering record revenue and EBITDA, and how its integrated ecosystem, pricing discipline, and AI-enabled operations supported that performance.

E: How do you assess the performance of the Saudi travel market in 2026 compared to last year, and what has changed in traveler behavior?

Muzzammil Ahussain (MA): Overall booking value on our platform showed impressive resilience despite a genuinely disrupted regional backdrop. When Saudis faced regional disruptions, they did not stop traveling, but simply redirected their plans. Consequently, domestic travel now accounts for nearly half of all our bookings.

Religious travel provided dependable scale, with Makkah and Madinah room nights up more than 50% y-o-y, as pilgrims increasingly embraced two-city journeys. Meanwhile, domestic leisure saw incredible momentum, with stay value within the Kingdom nearly tripling as travelers engaged with New Vision 2030 destinations like AlUla and the Red Sea, which are rapidly emerging as a luxury powerhouse. Behaviorally, we are seeing a shift toward “connected decisions,” where flights, hotels, and experiences are booked as one journey, and a strong preference for certainty, evidenced by a surge in flexibility and protection products.

E: Which international destinations are currently seeing the strongest growth in bookings from Saudi Arabia, and what is driving this demand?

MA: We have seen a shift in destinations. Egypt's leisure coast and North Africa have seen immense growth, with Tangier up around 40%, and strong performances from Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, and Marrakech. This is driven by the appeal of the sun and sea, short flight times, excellent value, and the cultural comfort that is essential for family travel.

Long-haul travel has significantly diversified rather than concentrated. Although favorites like London, Paris, Phuket, and Istanbul take the lion's share, we have seen bookings to Shanghai more than double, alongside rising demand for destinations such as Palma de Mallorca, Moscow, and Prague. A decade ago, the Saudi international itinerary was a short, predictable list; today, it is a genuinely global map.

E: What have been the biggest challenges you have faced in 2026?

MA: Our primary challenge in 2026 has been the regional geopolitical situation, which impacted demand and altered booking patterns overnight. We navigated this through two key strategies. First, the structural strength of our unified ecosystem played a crucial role. Because our five distinct verticals share digital infrastructure and do not move in the same direction simultaneously, consumers traveled more domestically, and our Hajj and Umrah vertical recorded its strongest quarter in history precisely when corporate travel faced pressure.

Second, we maintained strict pricing discipline. Rather than discounting to protect our volume line, we focused on improving our per-booking earnings. This approach allowed us to emerge with record revenue and EBITDA.

E: How has demand for domestic tourism changed amid major developments and the implementing of tourism projects across the Kingdom? Has domestic tourism started to compete with international travel for a larger share of Saudi travelers’ spending?

MA: Domestic tourism has profoundly transformed; it is no longer just a fallback option but a choice that now approaches half of everything booked with us. Domestic stay value is growing, indicating that Saudis are not just traveling locally more often — they are spending more on higher-quality experiences.

The Red Sea exemplifies this, emerging as a genuine luxury powerhouse where Saudis now spend more per booking than on their international stays. We are also seeing strong growth across a diverse portfolio of destinations, with AlUla scaling at a premium, Riyadh room nights up over and Jeddah stay value is up nearly 70%. Rather than competing with religious travel, domestic leisure complements it, with families increasingly combining an Umrah pilgrimage with a domestic break in the same year, or even the same trip.

E: Almosafer was recently identified as a key contributor to Seera Holding’s earnings. How have you managed to deliver this performance?

MA: We delivered record revenue and EBITDA in a difficult market, driven by three core drivers. First, our Hajj and Umrah business achieved its strongest quarter ever, with bookings up over 40%, fueled by our strategic role as the official flight partner for the Nusuk platform and our Mawasim tour operator. Second, consumer travel continued to grow despite market pressures, and we successfully improved our take rate rather than chasing volume through discounts.

Finally, our shared ecosystem provides massive operating leverage. Our five businesses run on a single sourcing engine, data backbone, and technology platform, which has allowed us to grow while reducing operating expenses as a share of revenue. This efficiency is further amplified by our AI-enabled process automation.

E: How have recent geopolitical tensions affected bookings and travel to and from Saudi Arabia? Have you observed changes in destinations, booking patterns, timing, or traveler behavior?

MA: The geopolitical climate heavily impacted corporate and government travel, which declined by approximately a quarter. While consumer travel held up better, we observed significant shifts in traveler behavior toward maximizing control. Travelers increasingly book two separate one-way tickets instead of round trips to ensure flexibility over schedules and prices, and demand for trip insurance and cancellation cover has surged.

In international family travel, overseas hotel bookings fell by over 20%, and trip lead times lengthened as families planned more cautiously. Crucially, we saw substitution rather than cancellation; travelers redirected their plans to Egypt, North Africa, or inward into the Kingdom. Religious travel, in particular, did not flinch, proving completely resilient to regional uncertainty.

E: As Saudi airlines and airports continue to expand capacity, do you expect increased air capacity to lower travel prices and stimulate demand?

MA: The expanding capacity and new corridors are acting as a powerful driver of demand across segments. A denser, more affordable network has transformed domestic, inbound, and outbound travel with new routes on low-cost carriers. At the same time, new capacity is expanding the premium top of the market, with Full Service Carriers offering direct connectivity to new destinations.

National carriers are gaining ground across the whole network rather than only at home, with over 50% of our flight segments booked on national carriers. An expanded route network and added international capacity mean more Saudi journeys now begin and end on a Saudi carrier.

E: How significant is business travel to the Saudi travel market today, and is the Kingdom’s growing success in attracting companies, investment, and conferences changing the nature of this segment?

MA: Business travel is undergoing a fundamental transformation fueled by the influx of regional headquarters, foreign investment, and a rapidly expanding events calendar that did not exist a decade ago. The segment has evolved from simple, individual flight and hotel bookings into complex delegation management, requiring coordinated accommodation blocks, ground transport, and hospitality tailored to sudden spikes in international arrivals within a fixed window.

This has become an advanced logistics discipline.

E: What do you see as the biggest transformation coming to the Saudi travel market over the next few years?

MA: We anticipate two major transformations. First, the trip will become even more integrated. More holistic packages — including transfers and experiences — when travelling abroad or domestically. We are already seeing rapid change, with activity bookings growing more than fourfold, driven primarily by domestic tours, new entertainment offerings, and Umrah-linked experiences via our Almosafer Activities marketplace.

Second, AI is shifting, from a back-end tool to an integral part of the traveler's decision-making process. We recently launched our own native AI filter that allows users to describe their ideal stay in their own words — such as “a family suite near the beach” — enabling the platform to assemble the entire trip seamlessly rather than forcing travellers to navigate generic filters.

E: What are Almosafer’s ambitions and vision for the coming years?

MA: Our vision is to be the platform this region's travelers default to, and a core digital infrastructure that the Kingdom's tourism sector relies on. We aim to own the connected trip end-to-end, seamlessly delivering flights, accommodations, transfers, and experiences as a single, unified plan rather than fragmented transactions.

Technologically, we are striving to be the most advanced platform in the region. Our ecosystem currently handles around two bn requests a month, with over 60% of our code co-authored by AI and conversational booking integrated into platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. Ultimately, our goal is to build the capacity required for monumental events like Expo 2030 Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA World Cup, ensuring that the digital booking experience is as world-class as the stadiums and pavilions the Kingdom is building.