Saudi tourist visas expanded under agency’s review

A woman takes a selfie as she stands next to a camel during King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Rimah Governorate, north-east of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in this January 19, 2018 photo. (REUTERS)

RIYADH: A review of tourist visa regulations has been completed by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), together with the interior and foreign ministries.
The SCTH said in a statement that it reviewed the regulations with relevant government institutions, investors and workers in tourism and transport, and groups of service providers through a series of intensive meetings and workshops.
The new visa regulations had been submitted to the relevant government authorities for approval, it said.
Visa requirements had been arranged with government and private agencies, and an integrated electronic system developed under the supervision of a team headed by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
The SCTH acted on the basis of a national tourism development strategy, approved in 2005, to develop and expand tourist visas that previously had been granted on a limited scale.
The National Transformation Program 2020 also adopted the tourist visa as one of the “initiatives of high economic feasibility.”
Prince Sultan bin Salman, president and chairman of the board of the SCTH, told AFP earlier this year that the Kingdom had affirmed its commitment to local values and culture — the most important attractions as it strives to attract tourists.
“The Kingdom is the cradle of Islam and the direction toward which all Muslims face in their prayers, and it has the honor to serve them, leaning on a legacy of civilizational, natural, cultural and tourist wealth and generous and welcoming people,” he said.