Latest news with #inboundTourists
Argaam
02-07-2025
- Business
- Argaam
Saudi Arabia posts SAR 27B BoP travel surplus in Q1 2025
Saudi Arabia achieved a record balance of payment (BoP) surplus of approximately SAR 26.8 billion for travel in Q1 2025, compared with a year earlier, driven by a significant increase in spending by international visitors. Spending by inbound tourists reached a record SAR 49.4 billion in Q1 2025, marking a 10% hike compared to Q1 2024, according to Ministry of Tourism. Accordingly, the first-quarter travel surplus grew by 12% year-on-year (YoY), the ministry said, citing data from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). Travel surplus represents the difference between the spending of inbound and outbound travelers. Spending by outbound travelers reached SAR 22.6 billion by the end of March 2025, up from about SAR 21 billion a year earlier, as shown in the following table: Travel Item Details in BoP in Q1 2025 (SAR bln) Q1 2024 Q1 2025 Change Spending by Inbound Tourists 45.0 49.4 10 % Spending by Outbound Travelers* 21.0 22.6 8 % Surplus 24.0 26.8 12 % *Spending by Saudi nationals and residents The following table shows travel item in BoP since 2016: *Spending by Saudi nationals and residents
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
CSO meets with tourism industry over ‘confusing' visitor data
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has held a series of meetings with tourism bodies over mounting concerns that declining inbound tourist data is out of kilter with industry experience. Fáilte Ireland became the latest organisation to seek a briefing from statisticians. 'We are talking to CSO. And we're talking to industry, we're talking to a number of independent research companies, trying to crash various data sources together to get the best possible picture as to how the season is trending,' said Paul Keeley, the tourism agency's director of regional development. Inbound tourist numbers have declined consistently since last September, raising eyebrows among tourism operators who have not noticed a corresponding effect on business. READ MORE 'Certainly the numbers as quoted by CSO jar with industry. It doesn't reflect the reality of what industry is reporting on the ground,' Mr Keeley said. 'The general sense around the country is that it's a little healthier than is reported by CSO at the moment.' [ Fáilte Ireland pays digital consultants €17.5m over four years Opens in new window ] He was addressing a recent meeting of Dublin city councillors where he said the results of a forthcoming Fáilte Ireland barometer would give a strong sense of industry sentiment for the first half of the year and expectations for the second. The fall in visitor numbers peaked at a monthly year-on-year reduction of 30 per cent in February before improving slightly to minus 15 per cent in March. Data for April, due next week, will be carefully watched. In a follow-up statement, Fáilte Ireland said it was analysing and comparing the March statistics with other data sources, including feedback from tourism businesses and industry stakeholders 'to get an accurate overview of sector performance'. The CSO's Inbound Tourism series explores the number of visitors, where they come from, how many nights they stay and spending habits. A spokeswoman said it has had ongoing engagement with stakeholders to consider the downward year-on-year trend but that it was 'confident' in its reporting. More than 13,000 departing passengers are surveyed each month. Data is collected 'according to a consistent and robust methodology' and calibrated against passenger flow data provided by ports and airports. 'These methods, which underwent an independent review commissioned by external stakeholders in mid-2024, have been applied consistently since the survey was introduced in 2023,' the spokeswoman said. 'In line with CSO practices, our methods are subject to quality assurance in terms of sampling and data collection.' At the same meeting of councillors, Martin Harte, chief executive of the Temple Bar Company said the overseas visitor numbers at the city's TradFest in January were up 8 per cent. 'I think there's probably a little bit of confusion over visitor numbers and their impact,' he said. 'Business appears to be the same if not slightly ahead of this time last year.' Earlier this month both the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) and the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) were also due to meet the CSO. Both bodies said March's numbers did not match the hospitality business experience.
