VIDEC releases new travel market sizing & OTA benchmarking study highlighting significant growth in Saudi Arabia’s market
VIDEC Consultants has released preliminary insights from its latest VIDEC’s GCC & Egypt Travel Market Study, 2019-2028. VIDEC undertook independent, rigorous and unbiased research covering air and hotel categories, with an emphasis on the role of online travel intermediaries in the six GCC markets and Egypt. VIDEC is a boutique research, consulting, and M&A advisory company with a singular domain focus on the global travel, tourism, and hospitality industry.
The research employs a highly complex demand-side methodology, taking into account only the bookings made from the local point of sale (POS). It excludes transit/transfers and bookings made from other POS, to pertinently arrive at the true potential of Saudi Arabia’s travel demand.
Here are a few key takeaways:
- Saudi Arabia’s air market is valued at $7.1 billion in 2024, with a 54% online penetration.
- Saudi Arabia’s OTA air GBV is projected at $1.9 billion in 2024. Almosafer dominates with a 61% market share.
- The hotel market in Saudi Arabia is estimated at $11 billion in 2024, with 30% of hotel GBV booked online.
- Saudi Arabia’s OTA hotel market is valued at $2.3 billion in 2024, with Booking.com commanding 60% of the OTA hotel market.
Contrary to the popular notion that UAE is the largest travel market in the GCC region, facilitated by its large pop and a robust domestic demand, it is Saudi Arabia that leads the pack when assessed from a demand-side methodology. The Kingdom’s nearly 100% internet connectivity and the young demography that’s fueling digital adoption in the Kingdom are the major factors behind the rise of the online travel market.
OTA air benchmarking
Saudi Arabia’s OTA air gross booking volume (GBV) is projected at $1.9 billion in 2024, a 36% increase from 2023. It is expected to reach $3.1 billion by 2028.
Strategic partnerships between key players and significant investments in technology to drive customer loyalty and engagement have fueled the growth in Saudi Arabia’s OTA air market. Saudi travelers’ unique behavior of preferring homegrown brands like Almosafer, Almatar and Flyin gives local OTAs an edge over global players.
Key Insights on Saudi Arabia’s OTA air market:
- Almosafer Dominates: With a GBV of $1.2 billion in 2024, Almosafer is the largest OTA in the Kingdom, commanding a 61% share of OTA air GBV. Almosafer is a powerhouse in Saudi Arabia’s travel market with diverse offerings such as hotels, corporate travel, tours, and activities, including physical storefronts for travelers seeking curated travel itineraries. In the next two to three years, Almosafer plans to go public to script its next level of growth.
- Almatar, a Formidable Competitor: The Saudi Tourism Development Fund backed Almatar is the second-largest OTA player in Saudi Arabia with a GBV of $320 million in 2024. Another full-service OTA, Almatar has made multiple strategic partnerships to bolster its tech capabilities and widen its content sourcing.
- Regional and Global Players Catching Up: Book on Wego—the OTA arm of the GCC region’s largest online travel platform Wego—is the third largest OTA grossing $215 million in 2024. Leveraging its strong brand recall, Cleartrip-Flyin remains resilient with a GBV of $130 million.
OTA hotel market benchmarking
Saudi Arabia’s OTA hotel market stood at $2.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to expand to $3.9 billion in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 13.6% during 2024-2028.
OTAs command over 70% share of online hotel GBV, establishing their dominant position in the Kingdom’s online hotel distribution. OTAs will continue to register strong growth, driven by increasing digital adoption among Saudi travelers and the depth in content of the global platforms like Booking.com and Expedia. While local brands lead in OTA air distribution, the two global behemoths have a near duopoly in online hotel distribution. Almosafer, while relatively smaller in online hotel distribution, maintains a meaningful market share.
Key insights on Saudi Arabia’s OTA hotel market:
- Booking.com Leads: The largest global hotel OTA commands 60% of Saudi Arabia’s OTA hotel market with a GBV of $1.4 billion in 2024. Being the first player to bring the Kingdom’s hotel category online and leveraging upon its content-sourcing prowess, Booking.com enjoys a strong foothold in the Kingdom’s OTA hotel market.
- Dominance of the Booking.com Group Continues: Expedia Group, which continues to have a sizable B2B presence in the region, is the second largest player with a GBV of $330 million in 2024. It is closely followed by Agoda, part of Booking Holdings, with a GBV of $290 million in the same period.
- Almosafer Leads Homegrown Hotel OTA: With global hotel OTAs dominating the market, Almosafer hotel GBV was estimated at $270 million in 2024, holding an 11% share in OTA hotel market.
“Saudi Arabia’s unique demographic profile, coupled with strong airline incentives and consumer preference for local brands, makes it one of the most rewarding OTA markets,” said Virendra Jain, Co-founder and CEO at VIDEC. ” As air matures for the local OTAs in GCC, they will naturally start doubling down on hotels. A bellwether of the David versus Goliath tussle in the kingdom’s online hotel distribution in the years to come.”
Driven by Vision 2030, OTAs are rapidly adopting technology and collaborating with key industry stakeholders to transform Saudi Arabia’s travel industry into a dynamic, customer-centric, and digitally advanced ecosystem.
This article is part of a series on the UAE, Saudi and other GCC travel markets, written by Virendra Jain. He will be headlining a session called ‘Uncovering The Middle East Travel Market’ at WiT Phocuswright Middle East on April 25, 2025. The session aims to be a critical analysis of the Middle East travel market while highlighting recent developments in the hospitality and travel industry as well as some key trends in the region’s suppliers and intermediary nuances. Get your tickets now.
