Tourism GDP exceeds riyals70bn in 2012

The GDP for tourism has increased by 6.8% to reach 70.2 billion riyals in 2012 compared to 2011. Percentage of the tourism contribution to the GDP of non-oil was slightly up ,"added value" from 7.3% to 7.4 % in 2012, according to data of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The 49th annual report issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) showed that spending on domestic tourist trips "excluding the expenses of international traffic" in 2012 amounted to 32.6 billion riyals compared to 35.5 billion riyals in 2011, a decrease of 8.2%, while the volume of spending from inbound tourism in 2012 was up by 16.8 % to $ 57.2 billion riyals, compared to about 49 billion riyals in 2011. The report pointed out that the volume of spending on excursions "excluding the expenses of international traffic" in 2012 reached 61.1 billion riyals, compared to 60.6 billion riyals in 2011, an increase of 1.7 %, while the accommodation sector was the largest in terms of the total spending of national tourists, as it amounted to 8.2 billion riyals, representing 25.2 % of the total spending in 2012 compared to 9.1 billion riyals in 2011.