RIYADH – Saudi Arabia welcomed 24,000 tourists in the 10 days after itissued tourism visas for the first time, the Saudi state televisionreported on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia announced on September 27 it would start offering touristvisas, opening up the kingdom to holidaymakers as part of a push todiversify its economy away from oil.
“In 10 days, some 24,000 foreigners entered Saudi Arabia on a touristvisa,” the television reported, citing the Saudi foreign ministry.
Up until September 27, the ultra-conservative Islamic state only issuedvisas to Muslim pilgrims, foreign workers and recently to spectators atsporting or cultural events.
To encourage arrivals, authorities announced on Sunday they would allowunmarried foreign couples to rent hotel rooms together.
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Kickstarting tourism is one of the centre pieces of Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the Arabworld’s largest economy for a post-oil era.
Citizens from 49 countries are now eligible for online e-visas or visas onarrival, including the United States, Australia, several European nations,Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, China and Kazakhstan. -APP/AFP
