Featured Marketing Opinion

posted on Jul. 30, 2025 at 11:50 amJul 30, 2025

How tourism is powering a new era in Saudi Arabia

posted on Jul. 30, 2025 at 11:50 amJul 30, 2025

Lucrezia Di Francesco, Advisor to the Saudi Government, shares her take on Saudi Arabia’s tourism story — beyond visitor numbers to economic, social and cultural transformation — which is reshaping global perceptions.

Lucrezia Di Francesco, Advisor to the Saudi Government

Lucrezia Di Francesco, Advisor to the Saudi Government

As someone who has had the privilege of working within Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector for nearly three years, I have seen first-hand how transformation here isn’t just about vision — it’s about delivery.

Growth is easy to talk about. Sustaining it is another story. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is not just growing — it is evolving. Strategically, steadily, and on its own terms.

In 2024, the Kingdom’s tourism sector made history. The numbers speak for themselves: Saudi Arabia achieved its highest-ever number of inbound tourists, receiving about 30 million international visitors in 2024, marking an 8 per cent rise versus 2023. Inbound tourism spending in 2024 totaled SAR168.5bn, up 19 per ce

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Tags:Advisor to the Saudi government Asian Winter Games cultural connections Dakar Rally economic diversification Fifa World Cup Formula 1 inbound tourism KSA LIV Golf local communities Lucrezia Di Francesco national pride perceptions reputation resilience Saudi Saudi Arabia Saudi focus Saudi Tourism SaudiFocus storytelling Strategy tourism Vision 2030 visitor numbers

the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.