Basically what it is in short is the fact that up to now you’ve been restricted to business visas and visas for religious reasons such as the Haji to Mecca.
Now they want to open up to tourists and keeping in line with forum rules, this is a Sky News article.
https://news.sky.com/story/amp/saud...-foreign-tourists-for-the-first-time-11820673
Saudi Arabia will open its doors to foreign tourists for the first time as the country hopes to attract 100 million visitors a year by 2030.
The ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, which has been relatively closed off for decades, is making visas available to tourists from 49 nations on Friday.
The move is part of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious plans to develop new industries, as the world's top oil exporter looks to wean itself off of the fossil fuel and open up society.
Image:Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has ambitious plans to develop new industries
Tourism is high on the crown prince's agenda, despite a shortage of infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia is appealing to foreign companies to invest in the sector it hopes will contribute 10% of gross domestic product by 2030.
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Tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb has estimated around 250 billion riyals (£54bn) of investments are needed, including 500,000 new hotel rooms within the next decade.
The Gulf country, which shares borders with Iraq to the north and Yemen to the south, boasts vast tracts of desert but also verdant mountains, pristine beaches and historical sites including five UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Thanks for providing the link, I was devouring a bacon sandwich for my breakfast, in a rush before leaving for work, when I posted this morning. Time to hunt a link down was not on my side, I barely made it to work in time to get set up and ready to go as it was!
Reading that, it's making it more tempting to go if only for a swift day trip. I mean, to get it done I'd be happy with just a flight there, have an explore briefly and fly home the next day. Or that evening, whichever made more sense.
Don’t rule out China. I went last February and had a great time - it was somewhere I never thought I’d go though.
Russia is somewhere I don’t see the appeal of though.
I said this morning China doesn't appeal, but equally I want to do the Great Wall of China. It is however the only thing there I want to go for. Well, maybe a few Chinese beers as well, given how unusual they are (in my experience) to find in the UK.
However I'm happy enough to let the Great Wall slide in favour of doing other stuff. Just the thought of going to China gives me the shivers, same for Russia. The fact I have to fly over that part of the world in November 2019 as part of my trip to Tokyo (random sidenote, that's the only bit of Japan which really appeals to me, otherwise I'd give Japan a wide berth) is enough to cause anxiety...
Yes I still refuse to fly with them after my case was significantly damaged.
