Superlative labels like the country’s tallest, the world’s longest, and the region’s first are often used to describe ambitious new projects in the two largest and most famous cities of the United Arab Emirates – Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But the country’s fourth largest emirate and fifth most populous now wants tourists to start thinking […]
“Great Transfiguration” project to turn Mount Sinai into an extended-stay destination
The area around Mount Sinai, known to locals as Jebel Mousa or the Mountain of Moses, is arguably the holiest and most well-known place outside of Jerusalem to the billions of followers of the world’s three largest religions – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Nestled deep in the mountainous desert that covers most of Egypt’s sparsely […]
Egypt’s ambitious plans to build dozens of modern new cities from scratch
It’s not often that you hear of a country constructing brand new cities from the ground up, but Egypt plans to do precisely this in 45 different locations over the next several years. Such a project might sound overly ambitious, but the Egyptian government contends that such a bold initiative is necessary due to the […]
Diriyah: The Past and Future of Saudi Arabia
Anyone with even a basic knowledge of Middle Eastern history, geography, and culture knows of Saudi Arabia’s powerhouse capital city, Riyadh; its namesake royal family, the Al Sauds; and its predominant sect of Islam, Wahabism. However, not nearly as many have heard of the place that connects all three of these in a very historically […]
UAE requests, BIE Exec. Cmte. recommends postponement of Expo 2020 Dubai
Following a request from the government of the United Arab Emirates to reschedule Expo 2020 Dubai, the Executive Committee of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which oversees world expo events, has voted unanimously to recommend that the event be postponed until 2021. The final decision is now up to the BIE’s General Assembly, consisting […]
Millions of tourism sector jobs in jeopardy as COVID-19 proliferates globally
The annual global summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) had been planned for 21-23 April in Cancun, Mexico, but that too has now been postponed amid worldwide travel bans, border closures, and mass flight cancellations due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The council’s 20th anniversary event will now be rescheduled for […]
Saudi Arabia has 350,000 reasons to celebrate the success of its tourism decision
Saudi Arabia is experiencing a relative tourism boom in response to opening its borders to secular international visitors in September of 2019. A little more than three months later, the chairman of the the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Ahmed Al Khatib, said that the country had issued 350,000 tourist visas in Q4 […]
Neom: The Future of Mega Resorts or a Desert Mirage?
Flying cars. Robotic dinosaurs. Holographic educators. An artificial moon. These are just a few of the things that are being touted as elements of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s planned futuristic mega resort on the Red Sea. But is all of this Neom talk just well-financed hype designed to draw headlines, peak investors’ curiosity, and induce FOMO? […]
UAE offers new five-year tourist visa
The United Arab Emirates has approved the creation of a new five-year, multiple-entry visa for tourists who wish to visit the country repeatedly without having to apply for a new visa every three months. The new option was announced on Twitter by UAE Prime Minister, Vice President, and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin […]
New data show increasing global interest in Saudi tourism market
A new report from market research firm YouGov has shown that international tourists are gaining interest in visiting Saudi Arabia following the kingdom’s decision last year to begin offering tourist visas en mass and the country’s efforts to promote itself as an emerging tourism destination. The YouGov data revealed that about one out of every […]
