Gazing at a shimmering salt pan below, a group of first-time Saudi Arabian hikers descended craggy slopes into a volcanic crater, part of a hidden trove of natural wonders being promoted to kick-start tourism in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is soon to begin issuing tourist visas, opening up one of the last frontiers of global tourism — a sector touted as the desert kingdom’s “white oil” — as it steps up diversification efforts to wean itself off its crude oil dependence.
However, the conservative country, notorious for sex segregation and its austere dress code, is seen as an unlikely destination for global tourists aside from Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
Now in the midst of historic social change, the kingdom is seeking a place on the global tourism map by promoting sites such as the Al Wahbah crater, widely unheard of even within Saudi Arabia with the near absence of local tourism.
On a warm winter weekend, Amr Khalifa, a private tour operator, brought a group of first-time Saudi Arabian campers to hike to the bottom of the crater. Clutching hiking poles, the hikers picked their way through the slippery, boulder-strewn path to the salt pan.
“I told my friends about Al Wahbah,” said Jeddah-based corporate banker Mohamed Bahroon. “They had no clue.”
The little-known crater, barely a four-hour drive from the western city of Jeddah, is a remnant of volcanic activity -— but folklore has it as having been formed when two mountains were so passionately in love that one uprooted itself to unite with the other, leaving a bowl-shaped depression in its place.
Over the past few months, authorities have built roads and markers to the site and erected picnic shelters around the rim of the crater.
“The key challenge is to make such tourism sites accessible,” Khalifa said.
Tourism is one of the centerpieces of Vision 2030, the blueprint to prepare the biggest Arab economy for the post-oil era, which was conceived by powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In August last year, the kingdom announced a multimillion-dollar project to turn 50 islands and other pristine sites on the Red Sea into luxury resorts.
It also plans to develop historic sites, such as the centuries-old Madain Saleh, home to sandstone tombs of the same civilization that built the Jordanian city of Petra.
The kingdom aims to nearly double the annual number of tourists it attracts to 30 million by 2030.
Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage President Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz last month told reporters that preparations were afoot to launch electronic visas in the first quarter of this year to “all nationals whose countries allow their citizens to visit” the Gulf state.
“The kingdom is a very big treasure,” Sultan said.
In an effort to change perceptions, Saudi Arabia has relaxed some of its most rigid rules — lifting a cinema ban, allowing gender-mixed sporting events and announcing that women would be allowed to drive from June.
However, its absolute ban on alcohol still makes it a hard sell for many global tourists, experts have said.
Rumors have swirled about plans to create exclusive resorts for foreign tourists, which, similar to many expat compounds in Riyadh, would have more relaxed norms.
However, Sultan said the kingdom, home to Islam’s holiest sites, would not permit alcohol as “we do not want to give up our culture and our local values.”
“Given the sensitivities of opening up to large numbers of non-Muslim tourists, I’d expect the authorities to focus more on encouraging local and regional visitors in the first instance, while the tourist infrastructure is developed,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in the US.
However, global travel agencies, such as Britain-based Steppes Travel, are already planning to offer packaged tours.
“There is a lot of potential for Saudi tourism — we know this not least from the pent-up demand we have within our own database,” Steppes Travel managing director Justin Wateridge told reporters. “There is interest in those that know and understand Saudi Arabia and not much needs to change other than the issuing of tourist visas. Travel breaks down barriers and prejudice.”
Tourism is still a “new concept” for Saudi Arabia, Jeddah-based writer Khaled Batarfi said.
“Serving others in our tribal heritage is unacceptable, except your own guest,” he wrote in the Saudi Gazette newspaper, highlighting the need for professional training.
In Al Wahbah, that seems to be changing. When the hiking group emerged from the crater, guide Khalifa swung open the boot of his sports utility vehicle to remove tents, folding chairs, firewood and platters of meat to set up camp near the rim.
“When Saudis go camping they take their full house with them,” he said as the group settled in for the night. “That needs to change.”
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RSS