Key stakeholders from travel industry gather at ITB Berlin 2024

The ITB Berlin 2024 kicked off last week seeing professionals and key stakeholders from the travel industry gather in the German capital.

It is considered the world's biggest travel trade show, with 24,000 visitors expected to attend.

Among them was Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia, who led a delegation that aimed to build awareness of the country's year-round destination offerings to the European market.

It came as Saudi Arabia celebrated reaching 100 million tourists in 2023.

“That's a testimony of how the world would like to come and visit Saudi Arabia and experience the Arabian culture and the Saudi hospitality,” Al-Khateeb told Euronews.

Saudi’s tourism sector has recovered since the pandemic with a 56% growth in international arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019 – the highest in the G20.

This was driven by a 65% increase in international visits, with almost 11 million more inbound visits in 2023 compared to 2022; from 16.6 million in 2022 to 27.4 million in 2023.