Since the launch in September of tourist visas for visitors from a host of countries, Saudi Arabia has attracted more than 50,000 visitors, while receiving nearly three times that number of applications for tourist visas from around the world.
Revealing these numbers, the Chairman of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, said that British tourists, followed by Chinese, were the top visitors to the kingdom.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event held to launch the $17 billion Diriyah Gate project, a potential tourist venue, Al-Khateeb disclosed that around 140,000 people had requested tourist visas, and that the numbers were “in line with our expectations.”
The mega Diriyah Gate project aims to revamp of the historic hometown of the Saudi royal family and make it a major tourism attraction.Increasing tourism and attracting holiday-makers to the once reclusive kingdom, is a key ingredient in the strategic Vision 2030 plan by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to diversify the country’s economy away from its over-dependence on hydrocarbon revenues.
Until September, Saudi Arabia had steadfastly held back from imitating neighboring Gulf states and attempting to draw in revenues from tourism, by restricting the issuance of visas strictly to those coming on business or religious trips, or to families of workers employed in the kingdom.
Now in a bid to attract foreign tourists, the kingdom has loosened or removed several social and cultural restrictions, including insisting that women visitors wear floor-length robes, but some restrictions, including the consumption of alcohol, remain.
Elaborating on this, Al-Khateeb said, “When we promote our tourism, we’re promoting the history, the heritage, the culture and I believe we have enough offerings to our guests.”
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