Saudi Arabia will begin issuing tourist visas in the first quarter of 2018, its senior tourism official said, a first for the kingdom as it undertakes major economic and social reforms.
According to Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz "all government approvals" are in place for the launch of electronic visas next year to "all nationals whose countries allow their citizens to visit" Saudi Arabia.
"We are now just preparing the regulations - who is eligible for the visas and how to obtain them," said Prince Sultan, head of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.
The owner of a Jeddah-based tour operator said that guided tours will begin in February 2018.
The move to open up its tourism sector is a major shift for Saudi Arabia as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman seeks to overhaul the kingdom's oil-dependent economy and shed its ultra-conservative image.
Apart from the millions of Muslims who travel to Saudi Arabia annually for the Hajj pilgrimage, most visitors face an arduous process and steep fees to enter the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia currently grants tourist visas for a limited number of countries, but even those applications involve restrictions, including requirements to travel through an accredited company and stay at designated hotels.
Prince Sultan said the cost of the new tourist visa had not yet been decided, but stressed that it would be "as low as possible, because we believe the cumulative economic impact is greater than the cash from the visa".
In recent months, the kingdom has broken with some of its most rigid rules - lifting a cinema ban, allowing genders to mix at a national celebration and announcing that women will be allowed to drive from next June.
Crown Prince Mohammed in August announced a tourism project to turn 50 islands and a string of sites on the Red Sea into luxury resorts.
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Read more:
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ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES
Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)
Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
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How to increase your savings
- Have a plan for your savings.
- Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
- Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
- It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings.
- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
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Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')
Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')
Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)
Prophets of Rage
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Meatless Days
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THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
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Director: Hansal Mehta
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2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
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The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
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A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Looking for a new family pet? Here are the links to visit when it comes to adopting...
Arabian Saluki Center of Dubai (Ascod)
Emirates Animal Welfare Society
Rescue Animals in Need United Arab Emirates
Sniff - Strays Needing Interim of Furever Friends
PARA UAE - Protection of Animal Rights Association
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
On Women's Day
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Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics