How Saudi Arabia is turning religious tourism into a growth engine

Like millions of Muslims worldwide, when 72-year-old Ahmad traveled to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj with his son and grandchildren, he was struck by how much had changed since his first pilgrimage in 1987. Recalling his parents’ experiences, who had sailed from Pakistan and relied on acquaintances and makeshift shelters back in the 1960s, the change was even more startling. From e-visa registrations to climate-controlled tents and real-time crowd monitoring, everything was more coordinated and streamlined as Saudi Arabia strengthens its tourism sector, backed by the rising number of religious devotees.

The Saudi government's infrastructure overhaul has placed the Kingdom's holiest cities and the overall religious aspect of the country front and center of its tourism drive.

Backed by Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is investing in infrastructure, hospitality, and smart technology to expand capacity and improve pilgrim services.

According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), 1.67 million pilgrims performed the Hajj in 2025, with the vast majority— 1.51 million people from 171 countries — arriving from abroad.

Breaking these numbers down further, in 2025, air travel dominated arrivals (1.58 million), while land and sea routes together accounted for barely 8%.  The demographic split between men and women was almost down the middle, with 878,000 and  795,000, respectively. There were only 10% Saudi nationals for Hajj, which confirms that it is, first and foremost, an international occasion. 

While total attendance dropped 8.5% from the 1,833,164 pilgrims recorded in 2024, Hajj 2025 remained the world's largest coordinated religious gathering. 

Unlike Hajj, Umrah operates year-round and continues to drive volume growth. According to GASTAT and the Ministry of Hajj, 6.5 million international visitors performed Umrah in the first quarter of 2025 alone, an 11% jump from the previous year. This was thanks to an expanded e-visa scheme that now covers more than 60 countries and to an airline network rapidly stitching new routes across Asia and Africa. The high-speed Haramain rail line moves 70% of those pilgrims between Jeddah's airport, Makkah, and Madinah in under 45 minutes. Together, these developments highlight the Kingdom's efforts to position Umrah as the foundation of a year-round religious tourism economy under Vision 2030.

Religious tourism as a core growth engine
When Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, tourism was positioned as a key pillar of economic diversification, with religious travel seen as the Kingdom's most scalable and dependable asset. Nearly a decade later, the results are surpassing initial benchmarks.

In late 2023, the Ministry of Tourism confirmed that Saudi Arabia had already reached its original 2030 target of 100 million annual visitors, including 27 million international arrivals, up from 13.5 million in 2019. In response, a new target of 150 million total visitors by 2030 has been set, with 70 million international tourists expected to make up nearly half the total. Furthermore, religious tourism contributed $28.3 billion to the economy in 2023.

In 2024, over 18.5 million pilgrims visited the Kingdom — 16.9 million for Umrah and 1.61 million for Hajj, according to data reported by Skift and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. The goal is to raise Umrah's capacity to 30 million pilgrims annually by 2030.

According to Astrolabs Insights (2024), religious tourism contributes roughly $12 billion annually to Saudi GDP, making up nearly 20% of the non-oil economy and around 7% of the total GDP.

Spending data from Visa's Travel Pulse Index for Ramadan 2025 showed a 162% year-on-year surge in Makkah, with food and beverage comprising 27% of transactions, followed by accommodation and transport. In Madinah, spending rose 64% during the same period. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah reported that pilgrims typically spend between SAR 5,000 to 15,000 (USD 1,300–4,000) per trip, depending on the package and duration. 

The sector also delivers employment opportunities. In 2023, religious tourism supported over 936,000 jobs, with projections rising to 1.6 million by 2030 as Umrah capacity and infrastructure grow.

The megaprojects building a pilgrim metropolis
Saudi Arabia's infrastructure investments under Vision 2030 are reshaping the physical landscape of pilgrimage. From hotel expansions to rail upgrades and new airport capacity, these megaprojects are designed to scale the volume and quality of religious tourism.

According to Arab News, the Rua Al Madinah redevelopment in Madinah spans 1.5 million m² and will add 47,000 hotel rooms, host 149,000 visitors, and create 93,000 jobs in hospitality, transport, and retail.

In Makkah, the Masar Destination project on King Abdulaziz Road, is a $26.6 billion (SAR 100 billion) mixed-use corridor covering 1.2 km². It will include 24,000 hotel rooms and 13,000 residential units and accommodate up to 158,000 pilgrims annually.

In addition to this, other major upgrades in air and rail are also underway to support this expansion. For example, the King Salman International Airport in Riyadh will feature six runways and handle up to 120 million passengers annually by 2030, with capacity set to reach 185 million by 2050, as reported by Arab News.

The Haramain High-Speed Railway, connecting Makkah, Jeddah, KAIA, and Madinah, added 2 million seats in 2025, a 400,000-seat increase year-on-year, and now moves nearly 70% of pilgrims between cities in under 2.5 hours as per Saudi Railways.

During Hajj, the Mashair Metro supports last-mile transport, moving up to 72,000 passengers per hour across key ritual sites, including Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifah, Jamarat, and the Grand Mosque.

Hospitality room capacity in the holy cities is expected to double by 2030 to address past shortages and support longer stays, reduce price volatility, and increase per-pilgrim spending across all travel segments.

Digital pilgrim and smart Hajj
To complement the infrastructural advancements, Saudi Arabia's Smart Hajj initiative is transforming the pilgrimage experience through AI, mobile platforms, and real-time data systems.

At the center of this digital transformation is Nusuk, the official Hajj and Umrah "super-app," which offers e-visa processing, itinerary updates, cashless payments, and access to transport and emergency services. As of early 2025, Nusuk had surpassed 12 million downloads and is now available in 14 languages, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Pilgrims are also issued RFID-enabled smart cards that store personal, medical, and logistical data. According to Arab News, these cards interact with tracking beacons at ritual sites to help monitor crowd flow and support rapid emergency response.

During Hajj 2025, the Ministry of Interior deployed over 2,000 drones and smart surveillance cameras across the holy sites. These AI-powered systems feed into a central control room that uses satellite imagery and predictive analytics to detect and resolve crowd bottlenecks in real-time.

Transit systems have also been upgraded. The Mashair Metro now adjusts train dispatch frequencies based on crowd density. In 2025, train intervals were reduced by up to 60% during peak congestion to ease platform pressure, as reported by the General Authority of Civil Aviation.

Inclusivity is also improving. In 2024, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah introduced VR orientation modules for elderly and first-time pilgrims. Offered in over 10 languages, the program helps users become familiar with the rituals before arrival.

Breaking boundaries through investment and FDI
In January 2025, another milestone was achieved as Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) approved foreign ownership of up to 49% in listed real estate firms operating in Makkah and Madinah. This was meant to stimulate investment and ease supply constraints in the holy cities.

According to Arab News, while direct land ownership by foreigners remains restricted, the reform has unlocked a previously closed segment of the Kingdom's tourism economy. Developers have responded quickly.

As per reports from MarketWatch and Skift, Radisson Hotel Group announced two new properties in Madinah with further expansion planned, citing the city's more stable, year-round demand. Furthermore, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts plans to open 100 Super 8 hotels by 2030, many in Makkah and Madinah's mid-market segment.

Currently, mid-tier hotels represent just 6% of total development in the region, but rising demand from pilgrims and new regulatory access is accelerating growth.

In April 2025, BlackRock committed $5 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to tourism infrastructure, including projects in Riyadh, the Red Sea, and the holy cities. That same month, 24 international banks visited NEOM.

From Hajj-only to Umrah plus
To extend stay durations and increase visitor spending, the Ministry of Tourism has launched "Umrah Plus," a program encouraging pilgrims to combine religious rites with visits to destinations such as Jeddah's Al-Balad, Taif, or the Red Sea coast.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the initiative aims to boost the average length of stay from five to nine nights and lift per capita spending beyond $1,000 by integrating culture, heritage, and leisure with pilgrimage.

According to Visa Travel Pulse, spending in Makkah during Ramadan 2025 rose 162% year-on-year, with dining, shopping, and leisure accounting for over 25% of transactions. Infrastructure is making this transition easier. The Haramain High-Speed Rail connects Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah in under three hours. Visa reforms have also expanded eVisa access to 63 countries.

The Red Sea Project, backed by the PIF, is another initiative developing 50+ luxury resorts across 22 islands, targeting post-Umrah eco-tourism. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's stopover program offers 96-hour transit visas with complimentary hotel stays, further supporting extended visits.

This approach also helps reduce seasonality, distribute traffic beyond peak Hajj and Ramadan periods, and create year-round demand for transportation, accommodation, and local services.