Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ultra-luxury resorts reached 82% occupancy during the final 10 days of Ramadan, as domestic travellers anchored first-quarter tourism performance amid regional disruption, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism said in its Q1 2026 sector report.
The figure places the Red Sea destination ahead of fellow leisure hub AlUla, which recorded 77% occupancy over the same quarter, and points to a pivot among Saudi travellers towards domestic destinations as airspace closures and aviation disruption complicated outbound travel.
Religious tourism continued to dominate during Ramadan, with Madinah recording the kingdom’s highest first-quarter occupancy at 82%, and luxury properties in Makkah pushing past 97% during peak days, according to ministry data carried by Arab News. Jeddah resort occupancy reached 85% during the holiday window, business news service Enterprise KSA reported, citing the same report.
The Red Sea destination, developed by Public Investment Fund-owned Red Sea Global, currently has nine operating resorts offering around 11,800 hotel rooms. Demand has been particularly strong at Six Senses Southern Dunes, St Regis Red Sea Resort and Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Saudi Gazette reported. According to the Vision 2030 annual report, the Red Sea destination welcomed more than 50,000 tourists in 2025.
Domestic tourists totalled around 28.9mn in Q1, up 16% year on year, while domestic tourism expenditure rose 8% to SAR34.7bn ($9.25bn), the ministry said. Total domestic and international tourist arrivals reached 37.2mn in the quarter, with combined tourism spending of SAR82.7bn ($22.05bn). However, total spending was around 2% lower than the same period in 2025, Enterprise KSA reported, citing the underlying data.
Approximately 10mn domestic tourists travelled across the kingdom during the Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr school holidays, a 14% year-on-year increase, with spending of SAR10.2bn ($2.72bn) over the period, up 5% on the previous year. The Saudi Tourism Authority ran a Ramadan promotional campaign, “Eid Mubarak with You”, which packaged stays at Red Sea, Jeddah and AlUla properties in partnership with the private sector. Some participating facilities reached 100% occupancy.
Average daily room rates fell 11.7% year on year to SAR389 ($104) in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Saudi statistics authority Gastat reported, with the discounting helping push national occupancy higher and laying the ground for the Q1 2026 surge. Licensed hospitality facilities expanded 34.2% year on year to over 5,940 by the end of 2025.
The Q1 figures point to a tourism market increasingly insulated from regional shocks by domestic demand. Saudi Arabia welcomed more than 122mn visitors in 2025, and is targeting 150mn annual visitors by 2030 under its revised Vision 2030 tourism strategy. Tags: Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, Red Sea Global, AlUla, tourism, Saudi Ministry of Tourism, Vision 2030, domestic tourism, Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr, Six Senses Southern Dunes, St Regis Red Sea Resort, Nujuma Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Saudi Tourism Authority, hospitality