Saudi Arabia has implemented around 1,000 economic and development reforms over the past decade as it seeks to create a more competitive, investor-friendly economy, with tourism among the 16 priority sectors targeted by the transformation.
The scale of the reform programme is striking. Since the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, some 1,200 laws and regulations have been issued, 100 investor journeys have been redesigned and more than 600 business licences have been converted into instant licences, according to the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center (SCBC).
The results are increasingly reflected in international rankings.
Saudi Arabia reached 13th place globally among 70 economies in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, while ranking third among G20 countries. The Kingdom was also among the world’s top 10 performers across 74 individual competitiveness indicators.
For Saudi Arabia, the objective extends beyond improving its position in international league tables.
The reforms form part of a much broader effort to diversify the economy under Vision 2030, make it easier for Saudi and international companies to do business in the Kingdom and attract the private investment required to develop sectors ranging from tourism and healthcare to logistics, education and technology.
For the international tourism industry in particular, the changes provide an important part of the story behind Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary growth as a destination.
From Vision 2030 to structural reform
When Vision 2030 was launched a decade ago, Saudi Arabia set out to fundamentally reshape its economy and reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons.
Creating a competitive business environment capable of attracting both domestic and international capital was essential to that ambition.
The Kingdom subsequently developed a reform model built around four principles: productivity, sustainability, inclusiveness and economic resilience.
Rather than developing the programme exclusively from within Saudi Arabia, authorities examined international benchmarks and the experience of other leading economies.
The work has involved analysis of indicators and practices developed by organisations including the World Economic Forum, World Bank Group, International Institute for Management Development (IMD), OECD, UN Conference on Trade and Development and UN Commission on International Trade Law.
The objective has been to identify obstacles to investment and business activity, develop solutions and then monitor whether the reforms actually work in practice.
The Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center has become a central player in that process.
1,000 reforms across 16 priority sectors
Over the past decade, the SCBC and its government partners have implemented approximately 1,000 economic and development reforms and initiatives covering legislative, procedural and technical issues.
They extend across 16 priority sectors, including tourism, logistics, healthcare, education and data.
A major component has been the modernisation of Saudi Arabia’s commercial legal framework.
Around 1,200 laws and regulations have been issued during the period.
Among the most significant are the Companies Law, Bankruptcy Law, Commercial Courts Law and its implementing regulations, Commercial Register Law and Trade Names Law.
While such legislation may appear far removed from the visitor economy, it is fundamental to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions.
The Kingdom’s extraordinary pipeline of hotels, resorts, restaurants, attractions, transport infrastructure and tourism services ultimately depends on companies being prepared to invest and operate in the country.
Making the legal and regulatory environment more predictable is therefore an essential part of attracting that capital.
Cutting red tape for investors
The reforms have also targeted the practical experience of establishing and operating a business.
Government transactions related to businesses have increasingly been brought together through a single point of contact, reducing the need for investors and entrepreneurs to navigate multiple government entities independently.
Authorities have also redesigned 100 investment journeys across different sectors.
More than 600 licences have been converted into instant licences, representing a significant shift in the way routine business authorisations are processed.
For international investors, such changes can be every bit as important as headline investment incentives.
The attractiveness of a market ultimately depends not only on the opportunities available but on how easily a company can establish itself, obtain the necessary approvals and operate once an investment has been made.
This is particularly relevant to tourism, where Saudi Arabia is simultaneously attempting to attract hotel operators, developers, destination management companies, tour operators, restaurateurs, entertainment businesses and a wide range of specialist service providers.
The private sector brought into the process
Another significant element of the Saudi approach has been greater consultation with the businesses and individuals affected by new regulations.
The SCBC’s reform model incorporates public consultation, with stakeholders invited to comment on proposed regulations before they are adopted.
The Istitlaa Platform was established as a unified electronic channel through which members of the public, businesses and government entities can submit views on draft regulations.
Authorities have also organised meetings and workshops with Saudi and foreign private-sector representatives to identify problems encountered when doing business in the Kingdom.
Those issues can then be analysed, recommendations developed and reforms proposed to the relevant government bodies.
The approach represents an important evolution in the relationship between regulators and the private sector.
Rather than relying exclusively on government assessment of what businesses require, the system is designed to incorporate feedback from the companies experiencing the regulatory environment first-hand.
Checking whether reforms actually work
Introducing a new law or simplifying a procedure on paper does not necessarily mean that the experience changes immediately for businesses.
Saudi Arabia has therefore introduced mechanisms intended to verify whether reforms are being implemented in practice.
These include mystery-shopper exercises, surveys and beneficiary opinion polls.
The results are used to assess whether government entities are applying new procedures correctly, identify continuing obstacles and evaluate the quality of services being provided.
This feedback loop allows authorities to revisit areas where regulatory reform has not produced the intended practical result.
The SCBC also continuously monitors Saudi Arabia’s performance against international benchmarks.
It directly follows five major comprehensive competitiveness reports and indicators, while responsibility for another 26 international reports and indicators is allocated to the relevant government bodies.
Their findings are analysed to identify areas where further improvement is required.
Saudi Arabia climbs the global competitiveness rankings
The impact is increasingly visible internationally.
In the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, Saudi Arabia ranked 13th globally among 70 economies.
Within the G20, it ranked third.
Saudi Arabia also placed among the world’s top 10 economies in 74 individual competitiveness indicators.
The improvement is particularly significant given the broader objectives of Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia is competing for international capital at the same time as it undertakes some of the world’s largest tourism, hospitality, infrastructure, entertainment and urban-development projects.
A competitive regulatory environment is therefore not simply desirable. It is central to the financing and long-term viability of that transformation.
Why it matters for tourism
Tourism is explicitly one of the priority sectors covered by the reform programme, and the relationship between competitiveness and tourism is becoming increasingly important.
Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions require enormous amounts of capital.
The Kingdom is developing entirely new destinations while simultaneously expanding its aviation network, hotel inventory, cultural offer, entertainment sector and supporting infrastructure.
Projects at AlUla, The Red Sea, AMAALA and Diriyah, alongside the transformation of Riyadh, Jeddah and other destinations, require a sophisticated ecosystem of investors, developers, operators and suppliers.
International hotel groups need confidence in the regulatory environment before making long-term commitments.
Tour operators and destination management companies need efficient licensing and clear commercial regulations.
Foreign investors need predictable corporate, bankruptcy and commercial law.
And the thousands of smaller businesses required to create a functioning visitor economy need procedures that allow them to establish and operate without unnecessary administrative barriers.
The competitiveness reform programme therefore provides an important, if less visible, foundation beneath Saudi Arabia’s tourism transformation.
Building the economy behind the destination
Saudi Arabia’s tourism strategy has always extended beyond attracting visitors.
Under Vision 2030, tourism is intended to stimulate a much wider economic ecosystem incorporating hospitality, aviation, construction, real estate, culture, entertainment, sport, retail, food and beverage, transport and technology.
That requires an environment in which private enterprise can expand alongside government-backed investment.
The Kingdom’s major tourism developments have benefited from extraordinary levels of public investment, particularly through the Public Investment Fund and its associated destination companies.
But as the Saudi tourism economy matures, private-sector investment will become increasingly important.
The regulatory reforms of the past decade are therefore part of the transition from an industry driven heavily by state-backed development towards a broader and more diversified tourism economy.
Saudi reform model attracts international attention
The Saudi approach is now attracting interest beyond the Kingdom.
According to the SCBC, the World Bank Group has selected Saudi Arabia as a centre for knowledge exchange and the international dissemination of economic reform practices.
Other countries have also expressed interest in studying Saudi Arabia’s experience as they seek to improve their own competitiveness and business environments.
That represents a significant change in Saudi Arabia’s international economic positioning.
A decade ago, the Kingdom was examining international benchmarks and drawing on the experience of advanced economies and global organisations to develop its reform programme.
Today, aspects of that Saudi experience are themselves being presented as a model from which other economies can learn.
A decade of reform – with more to come
The numbers illustrate the scale of what has taken place since 2016: around 1,000 reforms and initiatives, approximately 1,200 laws and regulations, 100 redesigned investment journeys and more than 600 instant licences.
The improvement to 13th place in the IMD global competitiveness ranking provides one measure of the results.
But the more important test will be the extent to which those reforms continue to translate into investment, new businesses and economic activity.
For Saudi tourism, that question is particularly important.
The Kingdom has moved rapidly from opening its doors to international leisure travellers to developing one of the world’s most ambitious tourism economies.
As major destinations move from construction to operation, the next phase will increasingly depend on the ability of private Saudi and international businesses to participate in that growth.
The spectacular resorts, heritage destinations and mega-projects may provide the most visible face of Saudi Arabia’s tourism transformation. Behind them, however, a decade-long overhaul of the country’s business environment is helping to build the economic framework required to sustain it.
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