Hawi Highlights Its Achievements During 2023 by Attracting Nearly Half a Million Visitors Across 30 Cities and Provinces in Saudi Arabia

The National Portal for Hobbies ‘Hawi,’ one of the initiatives of the Quality-of-Life program, revealed its achievements during the past year 2023. This comes as part of its ongoing efforts to activate the hobbies sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by promoting a culture of hobbies, enhancing societal awareness of the importance and benefits of engaging in hobbies, and enriching the experience of enthusiasts while directing development efforts towards improving the services provided to them.

Hawi clarified that it successfully attracted 440,000 visitors during Hawi’s promotional tours in 30 cities and provinces across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It experienced a significant 215% rise, with 678 hobbyist clubs registered, along with 571 events organized by these clubs. In addition to the total number of facilities across the Kingdom which reached 800.

The Hawi portal reported that the membership count on the portal in 2023 reached 33,000 individuals, alongside a notable outreach of 27 million across diverse social media platforms.

The Director-General of the Hobbies Development Sector at the Quality-of-Life Program, Tariq bin Adnan Al-Ghourabi, stated that “the noted growth signifies a positive interaction with ‘Hawi’ and underscores the essential need for an innovative and motivating environment, encouraging individuals in the community, whether citizens or residents in Saudi Arabia, to explore and nurture their hobbies.”

Al-Ghourabi added: “In Hawi, we will continue to support and empower the needs of enthusiasts and their clubs through partnerships with governmental, private, and non-profit sectors, striving to fulfill the goals of Saudi’s Vision 2030 across various dimensions of the quality of life.”

The National Portal for Hobbies announced on December 14th the launch of the new Hawi application, featuring an enhanced package of services. The application is designed to serve hobbyists, including both citizens and residents across all cities and provinces of Saudi Arabia. This initiative is part of the ongoing campaign “Got a Hobby… We’ve Got an App,” running until mid-February 2024. The goal is to assist individuals in discovering their personal hobbies and facilitate and empower them in pursuing these interests. This is vital, as the process of identifying and exploring one’s hobby serves as a fundamental step before engaging in its practice and this applies to people of all ages.

It’s worth mentioning that the Quality-of-Life Program established the National Portal for Hobbies “Hawi” in October 2022, bringing together 12 government entities under one umbrella to provide support and empowerment for enthusiasts of both genders in various hobbies. The initiative aims to create the necessary environment to support and enhance the participation of citizens, residents, and visitors in cultural, sports, recreational, environmental, and other hobbies. This is achieved through registering on the portal, establishing or joining existing clubs, obtaining licenses, and organizing events using Hawi application, which is available for free on smartphones through the App Store and Google Play.