Saudi Arabia to receive foreign tourists from May 17

  • Date: 08-May-2021
  • Source: Gulf News
  • Sector:Tourism
  • Country:Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia to receive foreign tourists from May 17

Dubai: Saudi Arabia will start receiving foreign tourists from May 17, Princess Haifa Al Saud, deputy minister of tourism for strategy and investment, said. "As many as 93 new companies have entered the Kingdom's tourism market and the government has provided SR120 billion as incentives for the sector to counter the effects of coronavirus," Princess Haifa said, noting that the volume of domestic spending on tourism jumped 33 per cent over the past summer. She added that Kingdom's tourism sector started receiving foreign tourists in 2019. "However, during the coronavirus pandemic, our first task was the safety and security of citizens and expatriates in Saudi Arabia, and we were able to provide the vaccine and reached a stage that enabled us to open the land and airports." Referring to Saudi Arabia's targets for the tourism sector, Princess Haifa said: "In 2018, the contribution of the tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was 3. 2 per cent, which is equal to SR147 billion of the volume of spending, and in 2019 it amounted to SR169 billion, with an increase of 3. 5 per cent. In 2020, the volume of spending dropped to SR63 billion due to coronavirus-related procedures, resulting