In a latest development, Indian passport holders who have US, UK, and Schengen visas that have been used once, will now be able to apply for Saudi e-visa online. This development was recently shared by Alhasan Aldabbagh, President of Saudi Tourism Authority (STA).

Reports have it that Saudi is also easing access for millions of visitors to experience Saudi with the 96-hour stopover visa and 9 VFS Tasheel Visa offices, which have opened across India to provide potential travellers with secure administrative services to facilitate their journey in experiencing Saudi.

The STA president further added that India is one of the fastest-growing markets for Saudi and, as per the records, around 10 lakh Indians visit the country every year. He added that their aim is to attract more than a crore visitors from India by 2030 across all categories like culture, leisure, heritage, and adventure experiences.

Reports have it that with increasing demand to visit Umrah, Saudi is expecting to lure more than 10 lakh visitors from India in 2025. It’s also trying to reposition itself from the pilgrim destination to tourist destination.

Credit: iStockAldabbagh further added that India is one of the fastest-growing markets for Saud, where Indians had the highest spending across all their source markets, globally. The highest contribution came from travellers visiting friends and family, followed by business purposes and journeys to visit Hajj and Umrah he elaborated. For 2023, their aim is to double the visitation numbers, and by 2030, their aim is to reach more than 12 million Indian visitors to drive a variety of visitation purposes. including leisure, culture and heritage, and adventure experiences.

As regarding initiatives that have been taken to lure Indian visitors are seasonal campaigns partnered with Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) to launch bespoke promotional packages to promote Saudi as the leading leisure destination for Indian travellers. He also added that they plan to launch an upcoming Diwali campaign, which will showcase Saudi’s interest in building connections with Indian travellers.