RIYADH – A tourist visa – without a chaperone – will be available for womenaged 25 and over, a spokesman for the Saudi Commission for Tourism andNational Heritage (SCTH) said on Thursday.
Women under 25 however must be accompanied by a family member.
“The tourist visa will be a single-entry visa, and valid for 30 daysmaximum. This visa will be added to those currently available in theKingdom and is independent of work, visit, Hajj and Umrah visas,” said Omaral-Mubarak, the director general of the commission’s licensing department.
The SCTH had previously announced the start of tourism visa issuance wouldbe announced during the first quarter of 2018.
“The executive regulations for tourist visas have been finalised. Thecommission’s IT department is currently building an electronic system forthe issuance of tourist visas, coordinating with representatives of theNational Information Centre and the Foreign Ministry,” al-Mubarak told ArabNews.
Despite gradually becoming more open to tourism, Saudi Arabia retains someof the world’s most discriminatory laws against its female citizens, withrestrictions on what they can wear and on traveling outside the countrywithout the permission of male guardians.
It was only in September 2017 that authorities announced the lifting of thewomen’s driving ban.
Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Visa Initiative, which will begin this year, is partof the powerful crown prince’s plans to open up the secluded kingdom toforeign investors, as well as reduce the state’s reliance on petrodollars.
Currently, travellers can enter Saudi Arabia on transit and limited twoweek visas, but these are difficult to obtain and extremely expensive,putting them out of reach of most tourists.
The plan aims for 30 million visitors a year by 2030, up from 18 million in2016, and it wants annual tourism spending to hit $47 billion by 2020.
Several ambitious projects have already been announced to attract tourists,including a luxurious Red Sea resort the size of Belgium, and a Six Flagstheme park.
Riyadh has also gone to great efforts to promote historical sites such asthe Nabatean desert complex of Madain Saleh to international markets.