Saudi Arabia targets 2M Indonesian visitors with expanded flights and simplified visas

Saudi Arabia is betting on Indonesia as a growth market, and the numbers suggest the bet is working. Through the first half of 2026, more than 633,000 Indonesians had already arrived in the kingdom. That's part of a trajectory that saw 1.6 million visitors from Indonesia in 2024 climb to 11.7 percent higher the following year. Now the Saudi Tourism Authority is aiming to double down, targeting two million arrivals from Indonesia by year's end.

The infrastructure to support that ambition is already expanding. As of June, four carriers—Lion Air, Garuda Indonesia, Saudia, and Flyadeal—were operating direct routes between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, collectively offering 96 flights each week with roughly 35,000 seats available. Saudia, the kingdom's national airline, currently flies 21 times weekly from Jeddah to Jakarta and four times weekly from Medina to Jakarta, plus three weekly services from Jeddah to Bali with a Singapore stopover. The airline has signaled plans to add service to Surabaya, though specifics remain unclear. Riyadh Air, meanwhile, is preparing to launch three weekly flights to Jakarta beginning in November.

But expanding seat capacity is only half the equation. Saudi Arabia has also moved to simplify the mechanics of getting there. The kingdom recently rolled out what it calls the Package Visa—a digital system that bundles tourist visa applications directly into travel bookings made through approved tour operators and travel providers. Rather than handling visas, hotels, flights, and activities as separate transactions, Indonesian travelers can now arrange everything in a single booking journey. The innovation sits alongside existing options like visa-on-arrival and the Stopover Transit Visa, all designed to reduce friction at the planning stage.

Eyad Jan, the Saudi Tourism Authority's market unit senior director for Southeast Asia, framed the push in straightforward terms during a trade roadshow in Jakarta: the kingdom continues to see strong interest and growing demand across all travel purposes from the region. The roadshow itself drew Indonesian travel trade partners, tour operators, and Umrah providers—a sign that the kingdom is cultivating relationships with the gatekeepers of Indonesian travel.

What Saudi Arabia is offering goes beyond logistics. The AFC Asian Cup in 2027 will bring a major sporting event to the kingdom, with Indonesia's national team among the qualified participants. On the hospitality side, new luxury properties are opening—Six Senses Southern Dunes and Miraval the Red Sea, which marks the wellness brand's first Middle Eastern location. Amaala, an ultra-luxury regenerative tourism project, represents another draw for high-end travelers. For families and younger visitors, Aquarabia is under construction and will become the Middle East's largest water theme park when it opens, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

The strategy reflects a broader shift in how Saudi Arabia is positioning itself internationally. Rather than relying on a single tourism pillar—whether religious pilgrimage, luxury retreats, or sporting events—the kingdom is building a diversified portfolio designed to appeal across income levels and travel motivations. For Indonesia, a market of over 270 million people with a growing middle class, that diversification matters. The combination of improved access, simplified paperwork, and varied attractions creates multiple reasons for different types of travelers to book a trip. Whether the kingdom hits its two million target by December will depend partly on execution—whether those new flights materialize on schedule, whether the Package Visa system works smoothly in practice, whether the attractions deliver on their promise. But the infrastructure and intent are clearly in place.