Home to holy cities Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia has had religious tourism for centuries, and now is also opening up to more of the conventional kind. Besides a look into a singular society, it also offers fascinating places like Madain Saleh and the vast Empty Quarter.

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Al-Haram in Makkah is one of ´10 of the World´s Most Magnificent Mosques´

Hossam all line Al-Haram Mosque in Makkah (Mecca) - also known as the Sacred Mosque and the Great Mosque of Mecca - is probably the world´s most famous, mentioned in the Quran as the first building ever built to worship Allah, started in the 7th century during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammed. Attracting millions of Muslims every year to perform their Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages - including circling the cubelike black-stone building in its centre, called the Kaaba - the Masjid al-Haram is…

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Saudi Arabia's top 9 destinations

    Long relatively inaccessible to tourism, this kingdom of oil, sand, and Islamic history, steeped in culture and tradition, has in recent years been opening up to and even promoting tourism. And it has much to offer, from the bustling cities of Riyadh and Jeddah to the tranquil beauty of the Arabian Desert to the the holiest sites in Islam, such as the cities of Mecca and Medina, visited by millions of Muslims every year for their Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages (with a range of Umrah…

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Saudi to offer unrestricted tourist visas for the first time, but...

The Guardian reports that as part of a push to diversify the economy away from oil, the Saudis are pushing to develop tourism, with visas available as of tomorrow. But it also points out that it's a "hard sell," due to factors including restrictions on women's dress, lack of alcohol, austere social climate, fears of regional instability, and distaste over the kingdom's tattered human-rights reputation (such as the brutal Kashoggi murder and persecution of women's-rights and other civil…

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Started by José Balido
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  • Riccardo R May 4, 2024 at 12:21pm
    A CNN look a few months ago at Jeddah´s UNESCO World Heritage old quarter - with a caveat: it was sponsored by the Saudi government, though CNN claims it had "full editorial control" https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/jeddah-al-balad-saudi-arabia...
    Why this tourist destination has been attracting visitors for centuries | CNN
  • Max Pesling August 3, 2023 at 9:02am
    On the religious side, Saudi is of course best known for Islam´s holiest sites. But it turns out there´s also a very unexpected boom in Christian - especially evangelical - tourism, as the New York Times laid out recently: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/24/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-ch...
  • Ahmed Abbas July 14, 2023 at 12:24pm
    CNN Business recently took a look at the tourism boom in Saudi, including an interview with its vice tourism minister - who as it happens is female: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/01/11/saudi-arabia-tou...
    https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/01/11/saudi-arabia-tourism-mme-spc-intl.cnn
  • Wissam Al Khoury May 17, 2023 at 9:22pm
    An interesting twist: CNN reports that according to its website, the tourism authority of this notoriously homophobic country - which criminalizes same-sex activity - is now claiming it is welcoming gay travelers. BBut under what terms? https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/saudi-arabia-lgbt-tourists/i...
    https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/saudi-arabia-lgbt-tourists/index.html
  • María José January 9, 2023 at 7:32pm
    Here's an interesting take from an Australian travel writer who visited Saudi not once but twice in recent years: https://www.escape.com.au/destinations/middle-east/why-i-went-to-sa...
    Why I went to Saudi Arabia – twice | escape.com.au
  • Wissam Al Khoury September 26, 2022 at 12:29pm
    Travel vlogger Drew Binsky has more than 3 million subscribers on YouTube, and one of his more popular recent videos is this one, from this past January on how he visited the holy city of Mecca, notoriously hard to get into if you aren't Muslim: https://youtu.be/P24WZp0gVRg
  • John Kipper June 14, 2022 at 8:30am
    Why new Saudi rules on this year's hajj booking threatens potentially thousands of British Muslims: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61752659
    Hajj-Muslim pilgrims face losing out from online booking to Mecca
    The Saudi government wants Muslims to book online for Mecca but many have already paid tour agents.
  • Tripatini March 1, 2022 at 11:37am
    Besides the connection of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman with the brutal assassination of U.S.-based dissident journalist Adnan Kashoggi in 2018, when it comes to Saudi Arabia it seems we most often hear about the fraught status of women here. So I was interested to come across a series of videos by Dubai-based Aoife Clifford - who vlogs at a YouTube channel called Teach Me Vogue and specializes in travel in the Muslim world - about visiting the kingdom as a single woman. Here's one: https://youtu.be/ihzdWeRokYc
  • David Paul Appell December 31, 2010 at 5:55pm

    An 18th-century fortress is bulldozed to make way for a shopping mall and replica of Big Ben in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Is this progress, or a crime against the country's historical and cultural heritage? Read the story and share your thoughts.

  • Ed Wetschler September 4, 2010 at 10:47pm
    In February Saudi Arabia opened up for non-Muslim tourists, but the government seems to have changed its mind: It just announced that it will no longer issue visas for travel unrelated to religion or business. What next?
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