Saudi Arabia Deepens Tourism Ties With France and Indonesia

Saudi Arabia is intensifying tourism cooperation with France and Indonesia, aligning new transport links, heritage projects and religious travel partnerships with its Vision 2030 strategy to attract more international visitors and diversify the kingdom’s economy.

Tourism Push Central to Saudi Vision 2030 Targets

Publicly available government data and sector analyses show that tourism has become one of the main pillars of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification agenda. Vision 2030 targets have been revised upward, with official reporting indicating a goal of 150 million domestic and international visits by 2030 and tourism’s direct share of gross domestic product rising sharply in recent years.

International assessments of the Saudi tourism program describe a phased strategy that moved from building basic capacity to a second phase, running from 2024 to 2026, focused on positioning the kingdom as a leading global destination. This includes large-scale investment in airports, hotel capacity and digital visitor services, as well as regulatory changes that opened streamlined e-visas and facilitated access for both leisure travelers and pilgrims.

Recent financial and policy documents highlight that aviation and hospitality infrastructure are viewed as core enablers of the tourism drive. New terminals and expanded routes are being planned or brought online to handle rising traffic to cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah, as well as emerging destinations linked to giga-projects and heritage sites. Religious tourism related to Hajj and Umrah remains a cornerstone, but authorities are increasingly integrating it with broader cultural and leisure offerings.

Within this framework, cooperation with key partner countries is seen as a way to accelerate visitor growth, secure investment and build specialist expertise. France and Indonesia feature prominently in this outreach, reflecting both their existing travel ties with the kingdom and their respective strengths in culture, heritage and large-scale religious tourism.

France Partnership Anchored in Cultural Sites and Air Connectivity

France has emerged as one of Saudi Arabia’s main European partners in tourism and culture. French economic reports on the kingdom’s tourism sector note that French visitors already rank among the top European source markets for Saudi Arabia and that French firms are heavily involved in event management, hospitality and destination development inside the country.

A flagship element of this cooperation is the long-term partnership around AlUla, the northwestern heritage region that Riyadh aims to transform into a major international cultural and nature tourism hub. Official French and Saudi releases describe a multi-year framework that includes archaeological work, museum and cultural infrastructure, hotel development and creative industries programs, with joint governance structures and shared funding for facilities such as the Villa Hegra arts residency.

More recent Franco Saudi communiqués outline wider tourism and entertainment cooperation beyond AlUla, including discussions tied to upcoming global events such as Expo 2030 in Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Business forums staged during high-level visits in late 2024 focused on the role of entertainment and tourism in both countries’ economic strategies, bringing together representatives of tourism authorities, events companies and investors.

Air connectivity forms another critical piece of the tourism relationship. Official economic briefings from France record that Air France plans to resume direct flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Riyadh in the northern summer 2025 season with the support of Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Program. Observers note that additional capacity on this trunk route is expected to make it easier for both leisure visitors and business travelers to add Saudi Arabia to multi-stop European and Middle Eastern itineraries, and to link French regional markets to the kingdom via Paris.

Indonesia Linkages Built Around Religious Travel and Visitor Growth

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, is a central partner for Saudi Arabia’s religious tourism strategy. Ministry statements and Indonesian news agency reports show that cooperation has focused on improving Hajj and Umrah services, expanding flight options and supporting joint efforts to manage rapidly rising pilgrim numbers.

In April 2024, a high-profile visit by the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah to Indonesia underlined the importance of this relationship. The trip’s program, according to publicly available information from the ministry, centered on enhancing services for Indonesian pilgrims, coordinating on digital systems and logistics, and exploring new forms of cooperation in religious travel. Indonesian coverage framed the visit as part of a broader effort to improve safety, comfort and efficiency for travelers heading to the holy cities.

Separate reporting from Indonesia’s national news agency in late 2025 and early 2026 highlights that both countries are now explicitly treating tourism as a two-way opportunity. Indonesian officials have pointed to cooperation agreements that cover not only pilgrim services but also wider tourism promotion and investment. Statistics Indonesia figures cited in that coverage show a marked increase in Saudi visitors to Indonesia in 2024, suggesting that outbound travel from the kingdom is becoming an important part of the partnership.

Airlines and tour operators are responding to this shifting landscape. Industry-focused publications describe how carriers serving Indonesian pilgrims, including regional aviation groups and dedicated Hajj and Umrah operators, have expanded flight programs covering major Indonesian cities and Saudi gateways. These moves are intended to align with Saudi capacity expansions for religious tourism and the kingdom’s push to integrate pilgrimage with longer stays that include cultural and leisure activities elsewhere in the country.

Infrastructure and Investment Underpin Expanded Cooperation

Tourism cooperation with France and Indonesia is closely tied to Saudi Arabia’s domestic infrastructure build-out. Analytical reports on the Saudi tourism sector estimate that the kingdom has roughly 135,000 hotel rooms in operation and plans to add hundreds of thousands more by 2030, with a substantial share linked to major destination projects such as coastal developments on the Red Sea and heritage-focused sites in AlUla and Diriyah.

French companies have secured a significant volume of contracts in these areas, according to French and international media coverage. Their roles range from designing museums and cultural institutions to managing large-scale events and hospitality operations. Observers note that this engagement is not limited to a single region; French expertise is being deployed in both established urban centers and new tourism zones, reflecting the breadth of Saudi Arabia’s investment program.

On the Indonesian side, investment cooperation is more concentrated in religious and family travel services, including accommodation blocks reserved for pilgrims, ground transport, catering and tour operations. Financial disclosures from Gulf travel companies emphasize the importance of Indonesia as a core source market and highlight product development tailored to Indonesian travelers, from language support to halal-certified offerings and bundled itineraries that combine Hajj or Umrah with time in other Saudi cities.

Both partnerships intersect with wider infrastructure initiatives such as port and logistics upgrades. Recent business forums between Saudi Arabia and France have showcased memoranda of understanding in transport and supply chain cooperation, which analysts argue will indirectly benefit tourism by improving the movement of goods and passengers across the Red Sea and Mediterranean corridors. Similar logic applies to aviation hub strategies that position Saudi airports as connection points for Southeast Asian travelers transiting to Europe or Africa.

Strategic Outlook as Saudi Arabia Chases Higher Visitor Targets

As Vision 2030 enters its later stages, tourism observers expect Saudi Arabia to rely increasingly on a web of bilateral partnerships to sustain visitor growth and fill new capacity. France offers a mix of high-spending leisure travelers, cultural and museum expertise, and global marketing reach, while Indonesia delivers large volumes of religious visitors and a growing middle class that is beginning to travel for education, shopping and recreation.

Policy documents and sector scorecards suggest that the kingdom is on track to keep expanding tourism’s contribution to national output, though challenges remain around infrastructure execution timelines, workforce training and seasonality. Coordinating with partner countries on visa facilitation, route development and investment promotion is seen as a way to mitigate some of these pressures and distribute demand more evenly across the year and across different destinations inside Saudi Arabia.

Analysts also point to the reputational effects of closer cooperation. High-profile cultural projects with French institutions at sites like AlUla, combined with large-scale Indonesian pilgrim flows managed under joint frameworks, reinforce Saudi Arabia’s positioning as both a custodian of Islamic heritage and an emerging cultural and leisure destination. If these partnerships continue to deepen, they are likely to play a visible role in shaping regional travel patterns, airline strategies and investment flows over the remainder of the decade.