Visitors from 20 countries including India continue to be banned
Saudi Arabia plans to soon reopen to foreign tourists, a senior tourism official said on Monday after the kingdom announced the lifting of quarantine restrictions for certain foreign arrivals.
The kingdom announced late on Sunday that non-citizens arriving from certain countries and who were fully vaccinated against or recently recovered from COVID-19 would no longer be required to quarantine in designated government hotels.
Those new measures, however, only apply to residents, government and business travellers or those visiting friends and family but not foreign tourists, according to the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA).
STA Chief Executive Fahd Hamidaddin told Reuters the kingdom would reopen to foreign tourists this year with an announcement expected to be made “very soon.”
Hamidaddin declined to say exactly when.
Saudi Arabia liberalised its tourism industry in 2019, making it easier for foreigners to apply for tourist visas to the kingdom that had been relatively closed off for decades.
Hamidaddin said the kingdom was still targeting 100 million annual visits by 2030, up from about 40 million a year before the pandemic. It was also still targeting for tourism to account for 10% of GDP, up from 3%, by 2030, he said.
Saudi Arabia had announced on Sunday that foreign visitors arriving by air from most countries will no longer need to quarantine if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Visitors from 20 other countries – including the United States, India, Britain, Germany, France and the United Arab Emirates – remain banned from entering the kingdom, however, under measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The civil aviation authority (GACA) said that from May 20 non-Saudi visitors arriving in the kingdom from eligible countries by air who are fully vaccinated, or have had COVID-19 and recovered, will no longer have to spend seven days in government-approved hotels as long as they provide an official vaccination certificate upon arrival.
Currently, all travellers coming into the kingdom need to quarantine for a period of seven to 14 days depending on the countries where they are coming from, and provide negative PCR tests.
Under the new rules, anyone over the age of eight years old who is not vaccinated must quarantine on arrival in Saudi Arabia for seven days at their own expense as of May 20 and provide a negative PCR test on the sixth day of their arrival, GACA said.
They must also provide a valid health insurance policy to cover potential risks from COVID-19. They will also need to provide a negative PCR test taken no later than 72 hours before boarding their flight to the kingdom.
Separately, the Saudi ministry of interior announced that Saudi citizens are still banned from travelling to 13 countries through direct or indirect flights without prior permission form authorities due to COVID-19 risks.
The countries are: Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Belarus, and India. (Reuters)