The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to attract 100 million visitors annually by the end of the current decade as part of its efforts to diversify the sources of its economy and gradually abandon oil as a basic resource for the country.
Saudi Arabia already receives millions of people as part of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, while it witnessed a boom in domestic tourism even during the epidemic, but the country is still outside the list of traditional tourist destinations, according to a report by the magazine “Financial Times“.
Promising projects.. and questions
Despite its ambitions, questions remain about whether the “conservative kingdom” where alcohol is banned and unmarried partners face prosecution” can compete with Dubai or Egypt.
Robert Mogielnicki, a political economist and fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told the magazine: “Saudi tourism’s ambitions are great, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
The tourism crackdown coincided with social reforms that allowed women to drive, introduced mixed-gender events such as concerts, and curbed the role of the country’s religious police.
Planned projects include a luxury complex spanning more than 20 islands in the Red Sea, with an initial launch later this year.
Saudi Arabia also describes the planned NEOM project as “the most ambitious tourism project in the world”.
And in the capital, Riyadh, the Diriyah Gate project is being built, which the government says will become “one of the largest gathering places in the world.”
Much of the work on various projects is funded by the kingdom’s $600 billion Public Investment Fund.
“Tourism ambitions are linked to these big projects,” Mogilnicki said, adding that turning them into reality “will be the hardest bump to climb.”
Among the challenges the Saudis will face, he added, “is the feasibility of the projects themselves and the infrastructure.”
Tourism Minister Ahmed El-Khatib said the aim is to raise the sector’s contribution to GDP from 3 to 10 percent by 2030, and for tourism to provide one in 10 jobs in the country.
“It means we need to create 1 million jobs in 10 years,” he told the Financial Times.
As part of this effort, incentives will be offered to airlines while visas, previously difficult to obtain, will be available electronically to citizens of nearly 50 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
In preparation for the expected number of expatriates, the Ministry of Tourism will train 100,000 Saudis annually to work in this sector, some of them in cooking and hospitality schools, abroad.
Advertisements for the projects are flooding social media, and the country has invited influencers to promote them.
Rights file.. the obstacle
Attracting tourists will not be easy, according to the magazine, as “Saudi Arabia’s image has been tarnished”, especially in the West, due to its reputation for human rights violations, with the execution of prisoners and the issuance of long sentences against Saudis who criticize the authorities.
Human rights organization Reprieve reported that at least 147 people were executed in the country last year.
Some influencers, especially those known on Instagram and on social media in general, were criticized for “ignoring these problems” and for their contribution to promoting the kingdom’s projects.
Therefore, the magazine says, “Saudi officials have no illusions that they can compete with Dubai or Egypt any time soon,” as they hope that the Red Sea resorts will initially be able to attract Saudis who usually spend their holidays abroad and visitors from other Gulf countries until they enter. To the world of international tourism and then embark on the real competition.
Saudi Arabia recorded 67 million visitors, including domestic tourists, pilgrims and Umrah performers, in 2021 according to official figures.
Kuwait, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar and Bahrain were the most visited countries.
One tourism official acknowledged that it would take some time before Western tourists showed interest.
One of the problems the authorities face is the lack of alcohol, and while rumors have circulated for years that resorts and special economic zones will one day allow alcohol, the issue is still highly controversial in Saudi Arabia.
“Officials privately admit ‘it will happen eventually’,” says the Financial Times, “just as the authorities turned a blind eye to the drinking of alcohol in closed compounds inhabited by Westerners.”