Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb confirmed that the Saudi tourism sector has achieved great leaps during the year 2024 on the way to realizing the goals of the Kingdom"s Vision 2030 pertaining to the sector. "The number of tourists coming to Saudi Arabia from abroad for recreational purposes during the year 2023 recorded a 600 percent increase compared to 2018, accompanied by a huge increase in the number of visitors coming to the Kingdom for religious purposes," he said while attending a dialogue session within the 2025 Budget Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday. Al-Khateeb noted that Saudi Arabia is witnessing a great demand for rural tourism. Saudi Arabia encourages those coming to the Kingdom for religious purposes to visit other cities and learn about the natural and archaeological wealth enjoyed by the cities and regions of the Kingdom. He stated that 27 percent of tourists coming for entertainment purposes from abroad visited more than one city in the Kingdom during the 9 months of 2024 compared to 14 percent during the last year. "This represents a positive and encouraging indicator," he said. The tourism sector"s contribution to the Kingdom"s gross domestic product (GDP) reached five percent by the end of 2023, Al-Khateeb said while pointing out that steps are underway to achieve the target of contributing 10 percent by 2030. "We recorded a surplus in the balance of payments of more than SR41 billion during the first half of this year compared to SR48.1 billion in 2023, after the deficit reached SR10 billion during 2018," he said. The minister explained that the number of jobs in the tourism sector in the Kingdom increased from 750000 to 960000 jobs at present. The percentage of localization in jobs in hospitality facilities reached 35 percent, he said. According to Al-Khateeb, the ministry pays great attention to the file of qualifying and training national cadres working in the tourism sector, with the support and follow-up of the Crown Prince. "The ministry spends an amount of up to SR375 million annually to qualify and train up to 100,000 young Saudi men and women working in the sector. There are more than 10,000 training opportunities in the largest institutes in the world in order to enable them to lead professions and jobs in this vital sector," he added.