The bond between Saudi Arabia and China continues to strengthen as Saudi Arabia advances its Vision 2030 plan and Beijing pursues its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The collaboration between these two international locations has grown significantly in current years, with Saudi Arabia shifting its geoeconomic focus towards the East and China increasing its presence within the kingdom’s economic system.
The potential for additional connection between the two nations is clear in the synergies between Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification plan launched in 2016, and the BRI. A key part of Vision 2030 is the development of the tourism business, with China rating as the top source of worldwide vacationers in 2019. Chinese vacationers made a hundred and fifty five million outbound trips that yr, spending over US$250bn on their travels. However, because of the COVID pandemic, these numbers fell to twenty million and 26 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The Saudi authorities goals to generate US$46bn in annual tourism revenue by 2030, with the potential for significant progress if more Chinese tourists go to the dominion. In 2019, simply before the pandemic brought on a downturn in tourism revenue, Saudi Arabia earned a report US$19.85bn from the sector.
As China recovers from the financial impact of its strict zero-COVID insurance policies, Saudi Arabia is keen to faucet into its tourism market, anticipating an increase in Chinese tourists travelling overseas. In March, Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin met with China’s Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan to discuss joint tourism initiatives geared toward attracting almost 4 million Chinese tourists a 12 months to the kingdom by 2030.
Beijing views the success of Vision 2030 as essential to its pursuits in the Middle East. A failure to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy beyond oil could lead to a devastating economic crash, doubtlessly creating further instability within the region and threatening the BRI and China’s international trade ambitions.
Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said, “Chinese tourism is a probably big marketplace for them. If they can faucet into that huge potential, it is going to be one other massive step ahead in transferring past complete reliance on hydrocarbons for foreign exchange and commerce.”
Saudi Arabia has several points of interest that could draw in many tourists, together with historical sites like the oasis city of al-Ula, the natural beauty of its Red Sea coast and mountains, and a growing entertainment sector. Forbidden planned megacity of Neom, set to accommodate up to two million folks by 2030, may additionally attract many vacationers to the kingdom.
Ahmed Aboudouh, nonresident fellow with the Middle East Programs on the Atlantic Council, explained that Saudi Arabia’s plans for attracting Chinese tourists embody “relaxing visa insurance policies, bettering air hyperlinks, upgrading travel companies and other targeted approaches, together with utilising conventional Chinese media and in style social media platforms to promote Saudi locations and rolling out technological payment solutions”.
Increased competition for Chinese vacationers within the Gulf region could put Beijing in a challenging position concerning its technique of sustaining good relations with all Gulf international locations. However, specialists consider that this competition need not be a zero-sum game, as rail and visa schemes might enhance connectivity between Saudi Arabia and the opposite Gulf Cooperation Council member states, allowing them to share the advantages of elevated tourism..