THE ENGINE: AI VISION •
IN NUMBERS
2026 The year officially designated by Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet as the Year of Artificial Intelligence. The designation was ap- proved on 10 March 2026. 5 The interconnected pillars of the AI Tourism Vision: global leadership, visitor-journey excellence, operational transformation, responsible innovation and empowerment of the tourism eco- system. 6 Named AI products in the TourismX beta: Hotel Interior AI Designer, MenuCraft AI, AI Identity Designer, AI Hotel SOP Generator, Tour Guide AI Assistant and AI Tour Script Generator. $122.8mn The value of Saudi Arabia’s AI-in-tourism market in 2026, up from an estimated $100.5 million in 2025
Saudi carriers Saudia and flynas have teamed up to make travel more seamless, using technology to offer multiple services digital-infrastructure invest- ments announced for Saudi tourism. 1mn+ Saudi citizens trained and certified in AI through the SAMAI initiative by November 2025. The official results said participants were 52% female and 48% male. $285.6mn The same research company’s forecast for the Saudi AI-in-tour- ism market by 2033. It projects a compound annual growth rate of approximately 12.8% between 2026 and 2033. SAR 1.2bn+ ($320mn+) The value of stc Group’s commit- ment to expand digital infra- structure and services across Red Sea Global’s resorts and communities – one of the largest
Above: King Abdu- laziz International Airport, Jeddah: AI is transform- ing destination management and infrastructure to make journeys seamless Left: Saudi carriers Saudia and flynas have teamed up to make travel more seamless, using technology to offer multiple services
Together, these initiatives show national infrastructure creating the rails while travel companies compete on relevance, service and conversion.
WHY THE LEADERSHIP CLAIM HOLDS No single app makes a country a digital-tourism leader. Saudi Arabia's claim rests on the breadth and integration of the stack: e-visas and digital identity; national discovery and booking marketplaces; AI tools for operators; biometric borders; connected aviation and rail; smart new destinations; and pilgrimage systems proven at enormous scale. It also rests on planning and timing. The kingdom is building much of its international leisure economy and its digital infrastructure in parallel, rather than retrofitting decades of disconnected systems. Tourism can draw on a mature national platform too: Saudi Arabia ranked sixth among 193 countries in the United Nations' 2024 E-Government Development Index. The test will be execution. Agencies and businesses will need to share data securely, systems will have to work across languages, and travellers must retain clear choices over privacy and human support. Above all, automation should remove friction around hospitality, not automate hospitality out of the journey. That is what makes the AI Tourism Vision important. It gives Saudi Arabia a common architecture for the next phase of tourism growth. The kingdom's opportunity is to build the destination and its digital operating system at the same time, then make the technology almost disappear into a smoother, safer and more personal journey.
SPOTLIGHT RIYADH | 49
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