Saudi Arabia to allow fully vaccinated tourists to enter from August 1

MENA

Published: 2021-07-30 10:13

Last Updated: 2024-03-27 18:49


Source: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek

Saudi Arabia announced Thursday evening that it will fully reopen its lands to vaccinated tourists, starting from the first of August, nearly 17 months after suspending tourist visas due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For decades, the conservative kingdom was satisfied with religious tourism, but in September 2019 it began issuing tourist visas to citizens of a number of countries within the framework of the policy of reforms and openness that began to be implemented years ago, before closing its borders to foreigners in March 2020 with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In a statement reported by the official news agency (SPA), the Ministry of Tourism announced, "The Kingdom will open its doors to tourists and lift the suspension of entry for tourist visa holders, starting from August 1, 2021."

The statement added that "fully vaccinated tourists can enter the Kingdom without the need for an institutional quarantine period, provided that an official vaccination certificate is presented upon arrival and that they bring proof of a PCR test (polymerase chain reaction) with a negative result within 72 hours from the time of departure."

The ministry explained that the fully vaccinated are those who received two vaccination doses from one of the approved vaccines in the Kingdom, which are Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

This decision comes days after the Kingdom organized a mini-pilgrimage season, in which 60,000 pilgrims from the country’s residents were fully vaccinated against the Corona virus.

The new decision does not mean opening the door to those wishing to travel to Saudi Arabia in order to perform Umrah.

The Saudi Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Al-Khatib, confirmed in statements carried by the agency that the authorities worked to "ensure a safe return through which visitors to the Kingdom can enjoy exploring its tourist treasures, important destinations and landmarks, and enjoying unique tourist experiences."

July 19, Saudi Arabia required all its citizens wishing to travel abroad to be fully vaccinated.

Saudi Arabia, which has 35 million people and has been closed for a long time, began in 2019 issuing immediate tourist visas to citizens of 49 countries, mostly European, after the bulk of the visas were limited to work, Hajj and Umrah.

The Ministry of Tourism stated earlier that it had issued more than 400,000 tourist visas during the period from September 2019 until March of 2020, when the Kingdom banned foreigners from entering due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This figure does not include Umrah visas, which can be performed throughout the year and attract millions of Muslims from around the world annually.

The development of the tourism sector is one of the most important foundations of "Vision 2030," the ambitious economic plan put forward by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the largest Arab economy and stop its dependence on oil. The kingdom, which has been content with religious tourism for decades, seeks to attract 30 million tourists annually by 2030.

As of Thursday, Saudi Arabia had recorded more than 523,000 infections with the coronavirus, including 8,212 deaths.

More than 26 million doses of an anti-Coronavirus vaccine have been administered to the population of the Kingdom, according to data published by the Ministry of Health on Thursday.