"Saudi Arabia to open up to foreign tourists with new visas"

[p--and--t]

If anyone intends going, use the official visa site instead of third parties who charge more and could be fraudulent.

Saudi eVisa | The Official website for Tourist Visa to Saudi Arabia

Apply now for an Electronic Tourist Visa to visit Saudi Arabia in 3 simple steps from the Official eVisa Portal

visa.visitsaudi.com

 

[Dudditz]

I think a visit will be on the radar perhaps next year.

 

[JohnM]

They won't get a single cent out of me with their current treatment of women.

While I certainly do not condone their treatment of women, I think that ultimately it is only by contributing to the opening up of such places will we see meaningful change. Of course, it will be slow; such things are evolutionary.

My approach is to go to ‘unusual’ places to see for myself and make up my own mind - and hopefully, in a very small way, contribute to an opening-up and change for the better.

 

[JohnM]

Travel Directors in PER are off and running on this: Saudi Arabia Unveiled | Travel Directors

 

[Danger]

A number of recent media reports suggest the kingdom is struggling to balance a desire to attract foreign tourists with its traditional values.

Foreigners refused entry to Saudi malls for not wearing an abaya

A female teacher from Canada, who recently visited Saudi Arabia, told MailOnline that her friend was prevented from entering a mall as she was not wearing the abaya gown.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A gay social media star from Saudi Arabia says he is facing prison for posting a photo of himself wearing short shorts at the beach

Suhail al-Jameel appeared to fall foul of Saudi Arabia's new public decency laws, one of which explicitly warns men not to wear shorts.

www.businessinsider.com

Christians risk arrest if they display Bible in Saudi Arabia, persecution watchdog group warns

Christians traveling to Saudi Arabia are being warned not to publicly display their Bible while in the country or travel with more than one copy of the text, despite the kingdom s recent openness to ...

www.christianpost.com

 

[p--and--t]

A number of recent media reports suggest the kingdom is struggling to balance a desire to attract foreign tourists with its traditional values.

Foreigners refused entry to Saudi malls for not wearing an abaya

A female teacher from Canada, who recently visited Saudi Arabia, told MailOnline that her friend was prevented from entering a mall as she was not wearing the abaya gown.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A gay social media star from Saudi Arabia says he is facing prison for posting a photo of himself wearing short shorts at the beach

Suhail al-Jameel appeared to fall foul of Saudi Arabia's new public decency laws, one of which explicitly warns men not to wear shorts.

www.businessinsider.com

Christians risk arrest if they display Bible in Saudi Arabia, persecution watchdog group warns

Christians traveling to Saudi Arabia are being warned not to publicly display their Bible while in the country or travel with more than one copy of the text, despite the kingdom s recent openness to ...

www.christianpost.com

Agree, I think I will be waiting and watching for a few months to years before going to this destination. I suspect it will take a while to acclimatise the dramatic changes proposed.

 

[Scarlett]

Seems overly expensive for the visa if they're genuinely trying to attract tourists. Or maybe they're only trying to attract the 'right' sort of tourists (wealthy ones).

Not sure I can justify that amount for what would unfortunately only be a short tourist stop at this stage. Maybe post-retirement it'll make more sense. And maybe by that stage the various 'issues' in the Middle East would have calmed down. .

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm currently doing a Uni course with a guy from Saudi. He insists that some nationals, including Australians do not need an eVisa now, but can get a visa-on-arrival. He says if an Australian citizen goes to the eVisa site and applies for an eVisa, it will error out. He says he knows an Australian who has done the visa on arrival

Naturally I challenged him on all this, but after checking, he's standing firm. Points to this site: About eVISA (scroll down to where it says Visa on arrival). That doesn't convince me - I can't find any mention of a 'bilateral agreement' between the countries on this (and Australia would never give Saudis visa on arrival!!)

Anyone else hear anything or recently applied for an eVisa to Saudi?

 

[JohnM]

As I think I posted above, Travel Directors are running their inaugural Saudi Arabia tour in a couple of months.

As I am a client of theirs for a Kamchatka trip mid-year, I asked Adam at TD about it. His response:


With the tourist visa you can do an online e visa. The website is Saudi eVisa | The Official website for Tourist Visa to Saudi Arabia
I wouldn’t suggest waiting till you get there to get a visa on arrival. I have not heard that is possible for Australian passport holders.

 

[Mattg]

I'll be travelling to Riyadh for 3 days in May and plan to apply for the e-Visa.

I wonder if any tours will be up and running by then?

 

[yld200]

I used the e-visa system in November last year for some business meetings and arrived into Jeddah. On arrival, I couldn't see any dedicated lines for tourist visas. They have dedicated lines for pilgrimage but nothing for tourists. I asked one of the staff and was directed to a seated area just behind all of the arrivals lines where I was processed at a desk. No issues at all, a few questions, fingerprint scans and they gave you a processing receipt to take through with you and hand to the security just before the baggage belts.
All in all, very straight forward and easy. The e-visa was approved within a few hours.

 

[JohnM]

I'll be travelling to Riyadh for 3 days in May and plan to apply for the e-Visa.

I wonder if any tours will be up and running by then?

Too late for this: https://www.traveldirectors.com.au/tours/saudi-arabia-unveiled/
and this: Saudi Arabia the Forbidden Kingdom - Small Group Tour - Native Eye

TD looks the goods but is exxy. They are well-known as pioneers (been doing Trans Siberian and 5 Stans since Adam was a boy), so no surprise they are straight into Saudi Arabia. It remains to be seen whether this venture will pay off and be continued beyond this year. On their record, I would expect so.

I'll be experiencing both TD (Kamchatka) and Native Eye (Chad) for the first time this year so will get first-hand experience of their offerings and style.

Too early for this: Inside The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia | Wild Frontiers

These are just the ones I'm following. My earliest chance is probably early 2022 as part of my annual DONEx. 2020 is full to the brim and 2021 is sorted but not quite all booked.

Looking forward to your TR on it, Matt. Stuffed if I can keep up with gen z these days... The Riesenschweinshaxe in Berlin killed me...

 

[Mattg]

The tours look good, albeit too long for my 3-day visit (and a bit pricey). I'll keep an eye out for other options, but I'm also very comfortable with just travelling independently.

 

[Danger]

I'll be travelling to Riyadh for 3 days in May and plan to apply for the e-Visa.

I wonder if any tours will be up and running by then?

I hear this former Saudi prison is worth a look. The 'tour' prices are very high but it's self-guided.

 

[Melburnian1]

I'll be travelling to Riyadh for 3 days in May and plan to apply for the e-Visa...

Just don't be in that city on some Fridays at a particular square...

 

[RooFlyer]

Just don't be in that city on some Fridays at a particular square...

Not sure what this is alluding to .... if too sensitive to post here, can you PM me, please?

 

[JohnM]

Deera Square - public executions: Deera Square - Wikipedia