Saudi Arabia to offer tourist visas for 1st time

September 28, 2019 00:23

Saudi Arabia will begin offering visas on Saturday for the first time to non-religious tourists, days after the country was criticised at the UN for its grim human rights record.

The kingdom -- which has imprisoned and tortured womens rights activists, carries out regular public executions, and was responsible for the high-profile murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi -- has said it is opening up to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.

The new visa programme for citizens of 49 countries, including the UK and the US, was announced by Saudi tourism officials, quickly followed by a Twitter campaign exhorting users to @VisitSaudiNow.

As part of the scheme, which promises to deliver a visa in seven minutes, female tourists will be exempted from wearing the all-covering abaya robe, but will be required to dress modestly.

Getting tourists to visit the austere kingdom, which forbids alcohol and enforces a strict social code, however, is seen by many as a hard sell.

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