Saudi 2020 and the plan to attract tourists - will it work? | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Saudi 2020 and the plan to attract tourists - will it work? | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

"The kingdom hopes it can extend its tourism industry beyond the religious pilgrimages of haj and umrah, in December announcing it will start issuing tourist visas in the first quarter of 2018. Other reforms specifically targeted at easing socio-cultural restrictions support this decision that will directly open up the conservative country to visitors: women will be allowed to drive by June this year, the 35-year-old ban on cinemas was lifted last month, and for the first time in Saudi Arabia, just last week women were allowed to attend a men’s soccer match.

As part of sweeping changes, the tourism sector is a central tenet of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030” and 2020 National Transformation Program, which constitute unprecedented plans to wean the country off its oil dependence, shrink the importance of the state and create millions of new private sector jobs to meet the demands of its young, expanding population.

“The idea to diversify the economic base is gaining momentum and tourism is a great way to do that,” said Asim Bukhtiar, Head of Research at Saudi Fransi Capital. “Saudi has a lot of tourist potential, not just religious visitors, but there are a lot of other heritage and historical sites, which up until now have been closed to international visitors.”
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