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Saudi Arabia's tourism and hospitality sector demonstrated robust growth and expansion in the first quarter of 2026, according to official statistics. The number of licensed tourism hospitality facilities surged by 22.7%, reaching 6,122 compared to 4,988 in the same period of the previous year. Serviced apartments and other hospitality establishments formed the largest segment, accounting for 51.6% of the total.

The sector's workforce also expanded significantly, growing by 6.5% year-on-year to 1,047,313 employees. Saudi nationals represented 23.9% of this workforce, with expatriates making up the remaining 76.1%. The number of tourism establishments employing staff increased by 9.0% to approximately 177,031.

However, the expansion came with some mixed indicators. Hotel room occupancy rates saw a slight decline of 2.2 percentage points, falling to 60.8% from 63.0% in the first quarter of 2025. Correspondingly, the average daily rate for a hotel room decreased by 11.4% to 423 Saudi Riyals. In contrast, serviced apartments experienced a rise in occupancy rates and a smaller decrease in average daily rates. Despite these fluctuations, the average length of guest stays increased in both hotels and serviced apartments.