Domestic travel made up 46% of Almosafer's total bookings in the first seven months of 2026, with local bookings up 13% year on year and room nights up 44%. Room nights in Makkah and Madinah rose 53%, Red Sea room nights rose more than 4,000% against the same period last year, and the Red Sea recorded the highest average booking value of any destination Saudi travellers booked, ahead of Paris and London.
Even with regional tension, travellers kept moving. They changed their routes, and the destination that saw the most demand now has the highest average booking value in the market.
Explore more signals
Medevac by the Dozen
PIF's Helicopter Co. ordered 8 more H145S under a 120-aircraft framework, expanding EMS alongside a 60+ fleet
The takeaway: air-medical response is scaling, and response-time assumptions just changed for healthcare logistics and insurers
Ad money grows up
A Snap–Kearney study found an 8-point gap between Saudi digital ad-spend growth and e-commerce growth; 30%+ of Saudi consumers find advertising culturally off-key.
The takeaway: A third of Saudi consumers feel that the ads don't represent them; the biggest growth driver isn't budget, but rather cultural fluency.
The money is moving closer
Assets under management in Saudi reached SR1.244 trillion at the end of 2025, from SR612 billion in 2020, with listed companies up 89% to 392, foreign ownership doubling to SR417 billion, and net foreign purchases on the Saudi Exchange running $1.6 billion in Q2 2026.
Doubling AUM and foreign ownership within five years indicates a market that has shifted in ownership, not just in value. Foreign owners often pose different questions to management than domestic owners.
