Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities: No intention to issue tourist visas again RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has rejected media reports that it would soon start issuing tourist visas for overseas visitors. “The previous postponement of tourism visas is still valid. There is no intention at present to issue this kind of visa again,” the SCTA said in a statement on Thursday night. There has been a postponement to “an unspecified date, so all efforts of the SCTA will now be focused on completing the infrastructure and providing proper services for local tourism needs only.” It stressed that its current priority is to develop local tourism for its major target markets, which are citizens and residents. The report stated that an estimated 1.5 million people a year would come to the country on these visas, providing the national economy with about SR35 billion over five years. This was based on each tourist spending about SR5,000 in the country. Investment in Saudi tourism and travel markets this year has been estimated at SR170 billion, of which SR70 billion was generated from domestic tourism.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 01:52:10 +0000
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