TOURISE Riyadh 2025: What I Learned From Three Days in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has always sat in a very specific corner of my mind. Friends spoke about their trips to Mecca, the news spoke about women safety, and I imagined endless sand with not much in between. That was the frame I carried with me for years.

Then TOURISE happened, and it shifted things in a way I wasn’t expecting.

The Ministry of Tourism in Saudi Arabia has been putting real weight behind its plans to reshape how the world sees the country as part of its larger Vision 2030. Close to 200 billion dollars have already gone into tourism projects, and you can feel that focus the moment you land in Riyadh. There is a clear push to move past old views and show a side of the country most people have never heard about.
 

This year, we at Liberty International Tourism Group got a front row seat to that change thanks to TOURISE. The summit, held in Riyadh, was positioned as a high-level meet up for global tourism leaders. It was invite only, which meant that every conversation in the room mattered and every attendee had something valuable to add.

For me, attending TOURISE across all three days with Mario made it even more special. Mario, our founder and CEO, was invited to join the TOURISE 2025 Advisory Board and has been working with the team since early this year. Seeing him in action, sitting with leaders from the World Travel and Tourism Council, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Amadeus, Skift, Expedia, AirAsia, TikTok, and more brought the whole event to life in a very real way. And yes, having Richard Branson and Ronaldo join the event virtually was a real standout.

It wasn’t a conference full of fluff. It felt like a clear signal of where Saudi Arabia wants to take its tourism story, and being part of those rooms gave me a far deeper view of what the country is aiming for.

Saudi Arabia Tourism Statistics at TOURISE Riyadh
Tourism numbers were a major talking point at TOURISE Riyadh. Saudi Arabia welcomed 11 million tourists in 2019, and reached 30 million international visitors in 2024. Around 46 percent came for Hajj, with the rest visiting for holidays, leisure, and business trips. This shift was highlighted across several TOURISE sessions, as the country continues to build its position in global travel.

One key trend stood out at TOURISE. Non-religious tourism has grown from 44% in 2019 to 59% in 2024. This shows how fast Saudi Arabia is widening its appeal beyond pilgrimage.

Saudi Arabia also led the G20 in tourism revenue growth in Q1 2025 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This data was shared across multiple TOURISE panels and reinforced why the summit has become an important space for tourism leaders and decision makers.

Key Takeaways
Ahmed Al Khateeb, the Honourable Minister of Tourism, set the tone right from the start. He welcomed delegates from around the world and asked us to treat TOURISE as a place to learn, share, and have fun. Then he said something that stayed with me. Even with AI shaping so much of our world, he still wants to greet the receptionist, meet the waiter, and keep the human touch at the centre of tourism.

Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority, spoke about how the country has carried the weight of prejudice for years. He said this is finally shifting as more travellers see the place for themselves. He shared a moment with a female editor who had avoided Saudi for most of her career because of long-prevailing misconceptions. When she finally visited, she broke down in tears and said she wished she had come sooner.

Mario Enzesberger, Founder and CEO of Liberty International Tourism Group, says, “When I first sat with the TOURISE team, I felt the plan was bold for an eight-month timeline. Events of this scale with global leaders usually need far more time. Yet the result spoke for itself. The flow was steady, the sessions were strong, and the program stayed full with panel talks, workshops, meetings, media sessions, and live presentations. It was clear how much care had gone into every part of it.”

One of the sessions that stayed with me at TOURISE was The Asian Powerhouse: Fueling Tourism Growth Worldwide. The panel brought together Tony Fernandes of AirAsia, Ritesh Agarwal of OyoRooms and Prism, Dillip Rajakarier of Minor Hotels, Tony Jiang of Ocean Link, Schubert Lou of Trip.com, and moderator Reena Ninan.

The room was packed for a reason. Asia-Pacific welcomed 316 million international visitors in 2024, and the region is steady on its way back to the front line of global travel. With rising incomes, better air links, and a young crowd keen to see the world, the pull of this region is only getting stronger.

What stood out the most was a point Ritesh made. He said bluntly that the world can no longer ignore Indian travellers. The scale, the spending power, and the pace at which Indians are travelling abroad make them one of the most important groups in global tourism today. The audience nodded because everyone knew he was right.

Another TOURISE session I loved was Me, My Avatar and I: Rebuilding Reality. Mario joined Jeremy Jauncey from Beautiful Destinations, Muzzammil Ahussain from Almosafer, Blake Chandlee formerly of TikTok, and Yeoh Siew Hoon from WiT to talk about how digital spaces are shaping how people explore destinations.

Mario made the point that stayed with me. Even with AI playing a bigger role in travel discovery, the senses still lead the way. You need to touch, smell, feel, and taste a place to know it. No digital preview can replace that. It was a clear reminder of what travel is really about.

Mario continues, “As someone who has worked in this field for decades, I was amazed by the destination itself. You can sense how fast it is rising as a place for tourism. And the strength of this event showed it. Everyone was there, from government and tourism boards to airlines, banks, finance groups, and sustainability voices. AI shaped many of the talks, and the mix of people made the conversations about the next 50 years sharp and honest. The theme said it best: The Future of Tourism Starts Here.”

On my way back from one of the sessions, I had a moment that summed up the warmth I felt across the city. My Uber driver asked where I was from. The minute I said India, he smiled, switched the radio, and played Bollywood songs the whole ride. It was a small gesture, but it stayed with me. It said more about the place than any statistic.

Walking out of the summit, I felt grateful that my own view of Saudi Arabia had grown wider, warmer, and far more hopeful than the frame I walked in with, and I’m already looking forward to seeing more of the country.