Skift Take
The fragmentation of the tours and activities sector is an issue for destinations across the globe. But as Saudi Arabia pushes to reinvent its tourism offering, it sees digital booking and distribution as essential to growing its tourism numbers.
Saudi Arabia's ambitious target to attract 100 million tourists a year, as part of its Vision 2030 to revive tourism, now has a new activities platform as part of its growth engine.
Almosafer Activities, set to launch in the third quarter of 2023, puts into effect an agreement between the Saudi Arabian travel company Almosafer, part of the Seera group, and Asian tours and activities marketplace, Klook.
The two travel companies signed the agreement in early 2022 to make local tours and activities more accessible and easier to book. Almosafer Activities expects to launch with 120 products under the categories of Attractions, Tours, Activities & Experiences, and Events across four regions, including Riyadh, Eastern Region, Makkah, and Madinah.
Almosafer hopes to use Klook's market share as a travel and experiences platform in Asia and global distributor of experiences, much the same way GetYourGuide and Expedia, and TripAdvisor's Viator and Bookings.com, have done in the U.S. and European markets.
The thinking behind the deal: Small- and medium-sized merchants in Saudi Arabia could benefit from exposure to local, regional