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At the ITB Berlin travel conference this week, Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin touted success in attracting female travelers.
“Our growth is due to travelers from around the world who seek unique and authentic experiences, especially those from Europe and the Americas. And, as a standout demographic in our growth story for 2024, we found that 44% of travelers to Saudi were women,” he said on LinkedIn.
With an estimated 30 million international visitors, according to the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, that would mean 13.2 million female tourists.
Last May, Hamidaddin called out the need to promote the kingdom as safe for female travelers: “One thing we’re not doing well… [is talking about] safety for women, we should tell the world more about how safe Saudi is [for women],” he said.
Saudi women gained the right to drive in 2018 and to be tour guides in 2019. The percentage of women who make up the tourism workforce had reached 45% as of 2024, according to Hamidaddin last May.
It was in 2019 that Saudi let women stay in hotels by themselves rather than with a male guardian, as they are referred to in the kingdom. Non-Saudi women have not been required to show “proof of relationship” with a man when checking into a hotel since 2019.
Since 2024, Saudi tourism authorities have made some moves to market more to female travelers. Intrepid launched its first tours run by Saudi women, for Saudi women.
In August, the Saudi Tourism Authority launched a large global campaign called “This Land is Calling,” in which a woman starred in a two-minute promotional video showing off the country.
Sarah, a 29-year-old marketing executive based in Dubai is one such traveler. She visits Riyadh for work every other month, staying in hotels as she visits her office in the kingdom. She asked Skift to omit her surname.
On being a “solo female traveler” to Saudi, she told Skift: “When my work first told me two years ago I would be having to go to Riyadh so often, I was worried. My mum lived in Riyadh for several years a decade or so back and didn’t have the best experience. But all my visits have been a lot easier and safer than I imagined. It doesn’t feel much different from Dubai honestly, just a bit quieter. In my work, I see a lot of other women like me staying in Riyadh without any worries. I’m not sure I would go to Riyadh for a holiday, but I am curious to visit AlUla one day.”
The Saudi Tourism Authority did not respond to a request for additional comment.
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