Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The International Passenger Survey (IPS) was suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic until the start of 2021. The ONS have made every effort to produce high-quality estimates for the periods when IPS data is not being collected but have not been able to produce a full set of results. See the 2020 inbound page for more information. Data for 2021 and 2022 was also impacted by COVID-19, more information can be found on the About IPS page.

Due to the above, the latest full year IPS data below is from 2019. You can access data detailed data from 2020 onwards on the latest annual page.

Global context

Measure2019
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)15.1
Global rank for international tourism expenditure24
Number of outbound visits (m)9.7
Most visited destinationKuwait
Most visited destination in Western EuropeUnited Kingdom

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2021
Population (m)35.9
GDP per capita PPP (US$)48,621
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)1.8
Annual GDP growth (%)2.9

Inbound visits to Britain from Saudi Arabia

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OVERVIEW OF UK VISITOR STATISTICS {{activeYear.name}}

Number of visits

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Total expenditure (GBP)

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Total nights spent

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Average length of stay (Nights)

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Average spend per visit (GBP)

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Access to Britain from Saudi Arabia

Measure2019
Weekly aircraft departures32
Weekly seat capacity8,738
Airports with direct routes in Saudi Arabia3
Airports with direct routes in Britain2
  • In 2019, 3 airports in Saudi Arabia served 2 airports in Britain: London Heathrow and Manchester 
  • The highest share of departing seats stemmed from the Riyadh to London Heathrow route in 2019
  • In 2019, the airlines that operated the Saudi Arabia to Britain route are British Airways and Saudia
  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 68% reduction in direct seat capacity from Saudi Arabia to the UK in 2020, and 2021 was 61% behind pre-COVID levels 
  • The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for Saudi Arabia is £84