Saudi Arabia says it had 623,000 licensed lodging units in the first half of 2026

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday, November 4, that it had about 623,000 licensed accommodation units in the first half of 2026, offering a new measure of the scale of the kingdom’s tourism supply as officials met travel companies at the World Travel Market in London.

The figure came from the Saudi Tourism Authority in a statement distributed by PR Newswire during the trade fair. The authority described the measure in industry terms as licensed room keys across different types of lodging. That means the number is a measure of authorized capacity, not a count of hotels, and it does not show that every unit was open, occupied or profitable.

The statement said the total included more than 44,000 room keys at newly licensed establishments. Because those units are part of the 623,000 total, they should not be read as an added increase on top of the overall figure. The release also did not provide a comparable historical series for the same measure, so it does not establish net capacity growth on its own.

The update was released as Saudi officials used the London event to promote the country’s tourism push to international tour operators, airlines and other travel businesses. The Saudi Tourism Authority said 37 partners from the country’s tourism sector were taking part in the “Saudi Land” pavilion, where they were presenting products and offers tied to destinations including Riyadh, Jeddah, AlUla, the Red Sea and AMAALA.

Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister and chairman of the authority, opened the pavilion in London, according to the statement. The authority said representatives from the public and private sectors would spend three days meeting international travel companies and discussing ways to increase demand during the winter season and later tourism programs.

In the same statement, Al Khateeb said Saudi Arabia received about 61.2 million tourists in the first half of 2026, up about 1% from the same period a year earlier. He also said tourism spending reached 151.9 billion riyals in that period. Those figures were presented by the Saudi side as evidence that tourism remains a core part of the kingdom’s economic diversification plans.

Saudi Arabia has set a target of attracting 150 million tourists a year by 2030. The new lodging figure gives investors and travel companies a sense of the supply being brought to market as the country develops new beach, desert, urban and heritage destinations. But the statement did not include occupancy levels, room rates, revenue per available room or other operating data that would show how well demand is absorbing the added capacity.

That distinction matters because a rise in licensed supply does not automatically mean that all of it is trading at strong levels. Authorized room keys can indicate the size of the pipeline reaching the market, but they do not by themselves show the financial performance of hotel operators or the balance between supply and demand.

The Saudi statement also highlighted AMAALA, a luxury coastal project that it said had been welcoming guests since June, with seven resorts already receiving visitors. It named Four Seasons, Six Senses, Rosewood and Nammos among the brands operating there. The authority presented that development as part of a broader effort to expand Saudi Arabia’s presence in higher-end tourism.

At the London show, the Saudi delegation said it was also promoting attractions such as Riyadh Season, Winter at Tantora in AlUla, and future entertainment offerings in Qiddiya, including Six Flags and Aquarabia. The pavilion was scheduled to remain open at ExCeL London through Thursday, November 5.