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


Measure	2019
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)	15.1
Global rank for international tourism expenditure	24
Number of outbound visits (m)	9.7
Most visited destination	Kuwait
Most visited destination in Western Europe	United Kingdom

Key demographic and economic data


Measure	2023
Population (m)	35.8
GDP per capita PPP (US$)	56,648
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)	2.4
Annual GDP growth (%)	1.4

GCC Market Profile (PDF, 73MB)

Saudi Arabia Market Snapshot (PDF, 1MB)

Saudi Arabia Aviation Profile (PDF, 212KB)

Saudi Arabia COVID-19 Travel Sentiment (PDF, 486KB, Published April 2022)

Find out where visitors from Saudi Arabia reside in their own country (Excel, 176KB, Published in 2016)

Please note that the reports below have not been updated with the 2009-2018 revised IPS data. For more information, please visit about the international passenger survey

Explore the perceived barriers which stop visitors from Saudi Arabia visiting regions outside of London (PDF, 2.46M, Published October 2014)

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 4.6502 SAR

As of 20 September 2023

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain from Saudi Arabia

Applied filters:

Display:

Drag to change year on charts and tables.

Touch the data points to see the values.

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

Number of visits

{{ totalVisitsPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalVisitsPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalVisitsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalVisitsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | fixUnits}}

Total expenditure (GBP)

{{ totalSpendPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalSpendPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | spendUnits}}

Total nights spent

{{ totalNightsPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalNightsPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalNightsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalNightsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | fixUnits}}

Average length of stay (Nights)

{{ isNaN(avgStayPerc) ? '-' : avgStayPerc >= 0 ? '+' + avgStayPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : avgStayPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data.toFixed(2)}}

Average spend per visit (GBP)

{{ isNaN(avgSpendPerc) ? '-' : avgSpendPerc >= 0 ? '+' + avgSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : avgSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | spendUnits(0, 'hideUnit')}}

* Change from {{Number(activeYear.name) - 1}}

Chart
Table

	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].name}}		{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
{{item}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

Chart
Table

		{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].name}}				{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Nights	% total	Visits	% total	Nights	% total
{{item}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.nights.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{journeyBox.nights.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.nights.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{journeyBox.nights.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

Chart
Table

	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].name}}		{{durationBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
{{item}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{durationBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

What Saudi Arabians think about Britain

Saudi perceptions of Britain improved in 2022: it was ranked 8th out of 60 nations in the Anholt Nation Brands Index, which was a change of 6 ranks.
Britain's strongest attribute was 'contemporary culture', ranked 6th.
Saudi respondents strongly associate Britain with 'films', 'museums', and 'music'.
Saudi respondents expect that a trip to Britain would be 'fascinating', 'educational' and 'exciting'

Access to Britain from Saudi Arabia


Measure	2023
Weekly aircraft departures	44
Weekly seat capacity	13,155
Airports with direct routes in Saudi Arabia	3
Airports with direct routes in Britain	4

In 2023, 3 airports in Saudi Arabia serve 4 airports in Britain: Birmingham International, London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Manchester International
The highest share of departing seats stemmed from the Riyadh to London Heathrow route in 2023
In 2023, the airlines that operate 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. 2021 was 61% behind pre-COVID levels, and 2022 was 2% behind pre-pandemic levels.
In 2023, direct seat capacity is set to exceed pre-pandemic (2019) levels by 51%.
The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for Saudi Arabia is £87.
Saudi Arabian nationals can pay £30 for a visa waiver to enter the UK.

Markets

Saudi Arabia