Saudi Arabia to lift ban on vaccinated tourists

Saudi Arabia will lift a ban on fully vaccinated tourist and will allow entry for tourist visa holders starting 1 August after a 17-month hiatus.

"Fully vaccinated tourists will be allowed to enter the kingdom without having to be institutionally quarantined upon providing a vaccination certificate upon arrival and presenting a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours from the time of departure," Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Tourism said.

The ministry added that only fully vaccinated tourists with Saudi-approved vaccines - Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson – will be allowed to visit the kingdom.

Saudi has invested billions to establish a tourism sector as part of its efforts to diversify its economy away from the oil industry, in line with the country's Vision 2030.

Riyadh launched the tourist visa in September 2019, where citizens of 49 countries would be able to receive the visa electronically, while holders of US, UK and Schengen visas can receive the visa upon arrival. About 400,000 tourist visas were issued between September 2019 and March 2020, according to the ministry. But the Covid-19 pandemic had put a stop to it as regional and international borders were shut.

International travel in and out of Saudi were banned since the onset of the pandemic in March last year. The government announced a limited restart of international travel in mid-September 2020, but only for specific categories of people.

International flights to 30 destinations resumed on 17 May, but at least 17 countries are still banned from entering the kingdom. Local authorities announced earlier this week a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries on the kingdom's 'red list' in an effort to curb the spread of new Covid-19 variants.

The announcement comes even as new daily infections remain high at 1,289 on 29 July, but down from 1,567 recorded a month ago. Saudi Arabia's management of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country has stabilised daily rates of infections, which averaged 1,261/d in the past week.

The government has enhanced its nationwide vaccination programme as it moves to revive sectors that were hit by the pandemic. So far more than 25mn vaccines have been administered, and authorities have announced that starting 1 August, vaccinations will be mandatory for the public and private sectors, including the use of public transportation.

The resumption of tourism will support a recovery in Saudi Arabia's jet fuel demand, which rose by 28pc on the month to 46,000 b/d in May, as the government resumed international travel, according to the latest data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative.

By Sarah Raffoul