Almosafer CEO: Saudi Travel’s Growth, the IPO, Middle East’s Most Profitable Route

Muzzammil Ahussain has a unique view on the rise of Saudi Arabia’s travel and tourism ecosystem. He was born in Los Angeles to Pakistani immigrant parents, and is now CEO of Almosafer, Saudi Arabia’s largest travel and tourism company.

Saudi has been opening up and Almosafer – “traveler” in Arabic – is seeing rapid growth. 

Saudis “are very, very well liked travelers from an industry perspective,” Ahussain told Skift CEO Rafat Ali on the Skift Travel Podcast. “They’re high spenders, they love to travel, they spend a lot in the city, in the hotel. They’re a good target segment for any major economy that’s focused on travel, whether it’s Europe, America, Asia, any major hotel chain, any major airline.”

Now Almosafer is prepping for an IPO. Ahussain shared more on the business model and where he sees the next phase of growth.

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IPO

Ahussain said the aim is for Almosafer to move forward with an IPO, which would serve as an exit for existing shareholders. 

• “Within the next 12 – 18 months, we would be on our path to be listed on the Saudi stock exchange. That will allow shareholders to have returns on their investment.”

• “There’s very little access to a direct travel company in Saudi Arabia….We’d be the first pure travel company, that’s purely a travel agency model, primarily, that’s very linked to tourism and technology that would be public. We’re seeing a lot of interest, but it’s still early.” 

The Business

Ahussain shared details about doing business in Saudi Arabia, which has taken steps to create destinations for domestic tourism.

• “Our biggest unit is our consumer travel business, which last year did about $1.5 billion in gross booking value. About 70% flights and 30% non-air.”

• “60% of bookings in Saudi Arabia are online. 40% are still offline.”

• “WhatsApp is fully integrated into our ecosystem. We’ve really institutionalized Whatsapp into a service and a sales platform.”

• “It’s a very last-minute business. Our average booking window for the whole year is about 10 days. People aren’t planning their summers that far in advance. 40% of our hotel bookings are 48 hours or less.” 

• “We have released our 3-year plan from 2024 to 2027. We are seeing consistent mid- to upper-teens growth on the top line. Greater than 50% growth on our EBITDA annually. We are profitable.” 

Religious Tourism

Domestic leisure tourism is beginning to pick up, but religious tourism is a growth engine.

• “Saudi has a unique position with the home to the two holy sites. 1.5 billion to 2 billion people in the world will at some point – for those that are practicing – come and visit.” 

• “If I look at growth, and I look at where the opportunity is, at least in the short term, I really see an opportunity in the religious tourism space. We see a lot of improvement in accessibility, availability, digitization of the whole religious tourism process.” 

Visas

While bottlenecks in the visa process have held back travel for many countries, Ahussain said there’s been improvement for Saudi travelers.

• One big example: “The UK used to be a traditional visa process. Now it’s an ETA. It’s a form online you fill out. We’ve seen a massive increase in Saudi travel.”

• “American visas are much easier for Saudis than they used to be. China is easy. In general you’re seeing this openness to travel.”

Most Profitable Route

“Riyadh-Dubai is one of the most expensive and profitable routes in the world.” Ahussain said it can be $4,000 or $5,000 for a one-hour flight in business class. 

He also pointed to high demand for Riyadh-Jeddhah and Jeddah-Cairo. “There’s huge demand and I think it’s only going to increase.”  

Next Big Bet

Ahussain said the real test will be in the period from 2027 to 2030. That’s when there will be a clearer picture of the efforts Saudi has made to open up. If the focus has been on religious tourism, the next bet could be tied to sports.

• “Travel is so integral to sports. That’s where you get the first people to get a flavor for Saudi. Expats are coming. The World Cup is coming in 2034. Sports is a great way for people to explore a country.”