Published on August 17, 2025
Saudi Arabia is strategically integrating AI and immersive technologies for illustration augmented and virtual reality into its tourism assemblage to heighten nan visitant acquisition and support its Vision 2030 goals. This displacement intends to position nan Kingdom arsenic a world tourism hub by offering innovative, personalized, and sustainable experiences. The take of these technologies is expected to pull much world visitors, thrust economical growth, and trim nan sector’s reliance connected oil, making tourism a cardinal non-oil gross generator.
Saudi Arabia is ramping up nan usage of precocious technologies specified arsenic artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to toggle shape its tourism industry. This push intends to heighten nan visitant acquisition while aligning pinch nan nation’s broader economical diversification goals.
Experts propose that nan incorporation of these technologies, peculiarly successful awesome projects for illustration Neom and nan Red Sea Project, is positioning nan Kingdom arsenic a salient subordinate connected nan world tourism stage. This displacement comes astatine a clip erstwhile nan manufacture is rebounding from nan effects of nan pandemic, pinch forecasts indicating that tourism could lend $11.7 trillion to nan world system by 2025.
As a cardinal constituent of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is prioritizing tourism arsenic a awesome motor of economical growth, reducing its reliance connected lipid and diversifying its gross streams. The National Tourism Strategy intends to pull 150 cardinal visitors annually by 2030 and summation nan sector’s GDP publication from 3% to 10%.
Experts statement that Saudi Arabia is strategically leveraging smart technologies to negociate growth, elevate quality, and connection unsocial experiences that separate it from different world tourism destinations. Smart tourism, which uses integer technologies to optimize operations and enrich visitant experiences, is becoming integral to this vision. The conception extends to Smart Destinations, wherever exertion and invention harvester to supply immersive, sustainable experiences for tourists.
Massive investments successful smart infrastructure, including AI-driven airports and integer visa platforms, are cardinal enablers for this transformation. Saudi Arabia’s young, tech-savvy population, mixed pinch a beardown attraction connected biology sustainability and taste preservation, further supports nan push for smart tourism.
The world tourism sector, recovering from nan pandemic, is expected to accelerate its maturation successful nan coming years, pinch AI-enhanced services expected to play a cardinal domiciled successful this evolution. According to a caller report, Saudi travelers are progressively adopting AI tools, pinch 87% utilizing generative AI for picnic planning. Many trust connected AI to find activities (46%) aliases optimize their itineraries (31%).
Tourism destinations successful Saudi Arabia are already integrating smart technologies to supply much personalized and seamless experiences. AI is being utilized to heighten customer service, offering devices for illustration chatbots for real-time support and AI-powered systems to customize itineraries. These technologies besides support sustainability initiatives, from power usage successful hotels to discarded guidance successful awesome tourism hubs.
Key projects specified arsenic Neom and nan Red Sea Project are astatine nan forefront of this transformation, utilizing smart infrastructure and IoT sensors to show biology factors and optimize edifice operations. In Diriyah, exertion is enhancing taste tourism done integer practice archiving and interactive storytelling, offering visitors immersive acquisition experiences.
Data and AI are expected to beryllium basal successful shaping nan early of tourism successful Saudi Arabia, enabling highly personalized, responsive experiences that accommodate to real-time data. AI is besides expected to play a important domiciled successful regular edifice operations, specified arsenic cleaning and nutrient delivery, utilizing work robots to amended ratio and consistency.
However, experts item respective challenges that Saudi Arabia will request to reside to afloat instrumentality these technologies. These see overcoming gaps successful section expertise, processing due regulations, and ensuring information governance and cybersecurity standards are met. Additionally, talent improvement will beryllium crucial, requiring upskilling programs and world collaboration to adjacent nan accomplishment gaps successful nan increasing smart tourism ecosystem.
Despite these challenges, experts are optimistic that smart tourism will play a cardinal domiciled successful Saudi Arabia’s tourism strategy, provided nan correct argumentation frameworks and coordination are successful spot to support semipermanent success.