Saudi Arabia's tourism sector is booming after a banner year when the Arab kingdom welcomed more than 140,000 Chinese travelers among 100 million tourists last year, surpassing its 2030 goal.

Gloria Guevara Manzo, chief special adviser at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Tourism, told China Daily that China was in the top three countries that "we would want to grow the most".

"Let's remember China also took more time after the pandemic to (fully) open and to allow outbound travel. And what we received last year was 140,000 Chinese," Manzo said in a video interview on March 13.

"That's a lot, considering the fact that we didn't have that many (Chinese visitors) before."

She then referred to Saudi Arabia's introduction of yearlong multiple-entry visas for international tourists in September 2019.

"Then, of course, came COVID, and we had to close, and then we reopened, but little by little. Some countries opened later, and especially countries in Asia," she said.

Riyadh's ambitious tourism plans, which set a target of 100 million visitors by 2030, were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic just as the Muslim-majority country had begun opening its doors to tourists who were not visiting for religious purposes.

Opening up travel was part of Vision 2030, a grand economic diversification plan introduced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in 2016. Expanding the tourism sector's GDP from 3 percent to 10 percent by 2030 was one of its goals.

"We're doing a lot of work to welcome more Chinese to come to the kingdom and hopefully, we will be able to see an important growth," Manzo said.

She said a lot has been done to boost connectivity, such as increased flights, as well as scaling up the training of tour guides to speak Mandarin.

The Saudi Ministry of Tourism is aiming for China to be among its top three markets by 2030 and is targeting 5 million Chinese travelers by then, it told China Daily.

Authorities have recently launched a Chinese version of the Visit Saudi website and Chinese language signs are in place at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The first batch of Saudi hoteliers and travel agents have also been sent to China for training.

Bookings, flights

Saudi Arabia has signed agreements with Chinese travel giants Trip.com and Ctrip, as well as Skyscanner, to drive awareness and bookings, in addition to establishing strategic partnerships with Chinese tech giants like Huawei, Alibaba and WeChat.

Expanding direct flights is also in the pipeline. There has been an agreement with Hainan Airlines to launch two new air routes in the second quarter of this year, while China Southern Airlines is set to launch direct flights between Beijing and Riyadh in April and between Shenzhen and Riyadh in June.

The latest visitor figures from China surpassed pre-pandemic levels, which were at an estimated 111,000 in 2019.

Manzo said Chinese tourists like visiting major cities and cultural locations like Jeddah and Al-Ula.

"It's very interesting that the culture is getting their attention," she said, noting that Chinese visitors also like Saudi traditions and hospitality.

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