Saudi has unveiled ‘Package Visa’, a fully digital initiative that folds the tourist visa application directly into a curated travel booking.
The new system lets eligible travellers arrange flights, accommodation and their visa through a single integrated booking, rather than applying for each separately, with the option to add events, activities and tourism experiences.
Crucially for the trade, Package Visa is available only through qualified travel and tourism service providers that meet set service standards and offer 24/7 customer support. That makes the accredited travel advisor the gateway, not a workaround.
The launch is underway across selected international markets ahead of a broader rollout, with no confirmed date yet for wider availability.
According to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) data, the region’s travel and tourism sector expanded by 5.3 per cent in 2025, comfortably ahead of the global average of 4.1 per cent. International visitor spending also climbed 5.2 per cent year-on-year, supported by strong connectivity and growing demand for both leisure and business travel.
Surprisingly, considering the competition it faces in the UAE and Qatar, Saudi Arabia led the charge, the data shows. The Kingdom’s travel and tourism GDP surged 7.4 per cent, nearly double the global growth rate, while international visitor spending rose 8.2 per cent.
How Package Visa works
Instead of treating the visa as a separate hurdle, the initiative links visa issuance to the booking itself, so the paperwork sits inside the same process as the flights and hotel.
For travel sellers, the framing is a chance to build more attractive packages, streamline the traveller journey and encourage longer stays and richer itineraries rather than short stopovers.
It builds on a string of access moves. Saudi has previously introduced a tourist e-Visa, a visa on arrival and a Stopover Transit Visa, all aimed at easing entry.
Where it sits in Saudi’s tourism push
Those access initiatives have underpinned rapid growth, with Saudi welcoming more than 29 million inbound visitors in 2025.
Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb said the move reflects a wider effort to deliver experience-led tourism.
“As Saudi’s tourism sector continues to grow at pace, Package Visa reflects our commitment to making travel to Saudi more seamless for visitors,” he remarked.
“For visitors, Package Visa means fewer steps between planning a trip and experiencing Saudi. Instead of arranging flights, accommodation, and a visa separately, eligible travellers can book everything through one integrated travel process, with the option to add events, activities and tourism experiences. The result is a simpler, more connected journey from booking to arrival.”
What it means for Aussie sellers
Saudi remains an emerging destination for Australian outbound, but the country has been positioning itself as a Middle East stopover and add-on to Europe, Africa and Asia itineraries. Anything that removes friction from the visa process eases one of the most common client questions on unfamiliar destinations, and channelling bookings through qualified providers keeps the transaction within the trade.
Saudi tourism also received a recent boost after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) lowered its overall travel warning level for the country to the second-lowest level (Exercise a high degree of caution).
KARRYON UNPACKS: Entry friction has long been the quiet handbrake on selling less familiar destinations, and Saudi is betting that folding the visa into the booking keeps qualified sellers in the loop rather than sending clients to self-service portals.
