Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the newly appointed prime minister of Saudi Arabia, is trying to attract the interest of foreign companies in competition with Dubai and combating dependence on oil, with the goal of turning Saudi Arabia into a “tourism mecca.”
According to Tourism, Saudi Arabia wants to attract tourists because the country is bigger and richer in terms of natural and historical heritage than its neighbor Dubai, an emirate that has become a global financial center in recent decades and is able to attract great riches and luxury lovers. to attract to the Middle East.
Until recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not offer tourist visas beyond those granted to Muslims to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, but that is now changing.
Based on the Vision 2030 strategy (to diversify the heavily oil-dependent economy) and under the supervision of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia plans to invest $1 trillion over 10 years to turn Saudi Arabia into a mass tourism destination and tourism mecca. convert
Bin Salman wants to attract 55 million international tourists annually by 2030, which is slightly more than half of the number of tourists who visited France in 2019. Excluding religious pilgrims, the number of tourists was around 3.5 million last year and 6.1 million in the first half of 2022, reported in early September.
To achieve this goal, the Saudis are moving on all fronts; They promote the production of the shipping sector in the country, the construction of luxurious resorts on the shores of the Red Sea, and ecotourism accommodations in the desert.
The Arab Kingdom has 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Al-Ahsa Oasis, Hegra Ancient Site (known as the Saudi Petra, Madain Saleh), the historical city of Jeddah, rock paintings in the Hael region, Al-Tarif region in Deiryah, and the former capital of the Al Saud dynasty.
The restoration of Deiryeh Gate, located north of Riyadh, is underway, and an investment of 40 billion dollars has been announced to build a tourism complex that will include luxury hotels and restaurants with famous Michelin stars.
Major projects such as Neom are being built in the Gulf of Aqaba, which includes a unique urban development project called The Line, which stretches 100 kilometers in a straight line across the desert.
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