Saudi Arabia to receive foreign tourists from May 17

Saudi Arabia to receive foreign tourists from May 17

RIYADH — Princess Haifa Al-Saud, deputy minister of tourism for strategy and investment, said that Saudi Arabia is preparing to receive foreign tourists from May 17.

Attending a television program titled “Direct Question,” she said that as many as 93 new companies have entered the Kingdoms’ tourism market and the government has provided SR120 billion as incentives for the sector to counter the effects of coronavirus, noting that the volume of domestic spending on tourism jumped 33 percent over the past summer.

Princess Haifa said 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 percent, which is equal to SR147 billion of the