Saudi Arabia is accelerating its push to build a thriving tourism economy, and one of its most powerful tools is a new wave of financing partnerships designed to unlock growth for small businesses. As the kingdom positions tourism as a cornerstone of its economic transformation, the Tourism Development Fund is stepping up with a fresh round of agreements aimed at widening access to capital and empowering entrepreneurs nationwide.

The fund has announced six new agreements and one Memorandum of Understanding with partners across the public and private sectors, unlocking partnerships worth more than $1.07 billion in total. Revealed during the Momentum 2025 event hosted by the National Development Fund, the initiatives support the Tourism Empowerment Programs, which provide financing to micro, small, and medium enterprises. Since launch, these programmes have delivered nearly $800 million in funding and contributed to the creation of more than 74,000 jobs across the kingdom.

The latest partnerships include an expanded collaboration with the Kafalah Program, building on earlier guarantees worth $533 million, which supported more than 2,000 tourism enterprises. A new programme, estimated at $187 million, will collaborate with more than 45 financing entities to provide support to MSMEs nationwide. The fund also signed an $80 million financing agreement with Arab National Bank, following a similar deal last year. It finalised four agreements worth $53 million under its NBFI programme with several finance companies. These build on previous cooperation valued at $67 million.

In addition, the fund signed an MoU with the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank to develop a dedicated financing model for tourism businesses. With more than 10,000 enterprises already benefiting from its initiatives, the Tourism Development Fund continues to play a central role in expanding Saudi Arabia’s tourism ecosystem and advancing the goals of Vision 2030.