Spain’s tourism board has appointed a specialist marketing representative in Saudi Arabia in order to double the number of Saudi tourists traveling to the country.

Daniel Rosado, the Director of the Spanish Tourism Office for the Middle East, said that 90,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia visited Spain in 2019, compared to 67,000 in 2016.

Rosado said, “We are looking to double the number of tourists traveling to Spain from the Kingdom. In January and February 2020, before the pandemic halted travel, numbers where higher than in 2019, which was very promising. We are confident Spain always has something to offer all kinds of clients from the Kingdom.”

For a growth in visitors — once international travel restarts in May for Saudis — the Spanish tourism board has appointed AVIAREPS, a global tourism marketing company, as its official partner in the Kingdom.

“This is the first time for Spain Tourism to appoint a joint representative in Saudi Arabia and is symbolic of the importance and dedication we have for further engaging and developing our connections with the Saudi market,” said Rosado.

Glenn Johnston, vice president of Middle East and Global Public Affairs at AVIAREPS said, “In anticipation of international travel coming back online for travelers from Saudi Arabia, we look forward to rolling out a number of marketing and promotional initiatives in the months to come.”

46 percent of people in Saudi Arabia said that they wish to travel internationally once restrictions are eased later this year. This poll was conducted late last year before the corona virus vaccines made advancement.