Saudi Arabia wears its heart on its sleeve with lofty tourism dreams

Saudi Arabia’s fledgling tourism proposition is looking like a hard sell. “There are aspects of Saudi that will put people off”.

- Vivian Nereim and Glen Carey

It’s the day before the grand opening of Shaden, a luxury desert camp in Saudi Arabia where air-conditioned tents look out on sandstone cliffs. A princely delegation is on its way. But the place isn’t quite ready.

Peacocks for the garden of the 10,000-riyals-a-night royal suite haven’t arrived. The cow brought in to provide fresh milk for the cafe has been mooing all night. It “won’t shut up,” laments Ahmed Al Said, the project developer, as he gives orders over the clang of hammers and shovels.

Saudi Arabia as a whole isn’t ready for tourists either. But its rulers are intent on revolutionsing the economy, and tourism is high on their list. They figure it can create jobs for a youthful population, earn revenue to reduce oil-dependence, and help open the kingdom to the world. Which it might if anyone can be persuaded to come.

To be sure, the country attracts plenty of foreign travellers, about 18 million last year, the most in the Arab world. But they’re almost all Muslim pilgrims visiting Mecca. Regular tourism barely exists. And there are so many obstacles that a Saudi Arabia full of holiday makers is as hard to envisage as a Saudi Arabia that’s no longer hooked on fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia doesn’t even issue tourist visas. Its alcohol ban, strict dress code and curbs on gender mixing are red flags for many people who’d be happy to visit Dubai’s beaches or Egypt’s pyramids. Then there are the secret police, who often keep a close watch on foreign visitors, and the religious police, who chastise people for moral violations. Even many Saudis prefer to vacation in Dubai, where they can wear what they want and go to nightclubs or movie theatres.

“There are aspects of Saudi that will put people off,” said Jarrod Kyte, product director at UK tour company Steppes Travel.