Tourism

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi's PIF downsizes foreign investment, turns to AI, domestic priorities

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is looking to invest in tourism, real estate and sustainability as its Vision 2030 deadline draws closer.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath addresses the media in Colombo on Oct. 24, 2024.

Sri Lanka arrests 3 men in plot to attack Israeli-run Jewish center: What we know

Three Sri Lankan nationals were arrested on Thursday after Israel's National Security Council urged Israelis to leave certain areas of the country due to "credible terrorism threats."

Rosaleen Carroll

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, in the Oval Office on January 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. The two leaders were expected to discuss a range of issues, including global energy security as concerns about Russian natural gas supplies continue. (Photo by Tom Brenner-Pool/New York Times/Getty Images)

Qatar to join US visa-free travel list in first for Arab country

Qatar is set to become the second Middle Eastern country, behind Israel, to join the US Visa Waiver Program.

Employees of Aramco oil company work in Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil processing plant on September 20, 2019.

Analysis

Can Saudi Arabia afford giga-projects with oil prices under $75 per barrel?

Riyadh could soon run a current account deficit as oil revenue declines amid huge spending commitments toward ambitious Vision 2030 projects. Saudi-led OPEC has also deferred an output increase plan to allow more time to reach desired oil prices.

Jennifer Gnana

Samuel Wendel

By Jennifer Gnana , Samuel Wendel

Latest News

Saudia inks deal for electric flying taxis from Germany amid airline order spree

Media image of a Lilium eVTOL jet, download July 18, 2024.

Qatar Airways sees annual profit climb by 39% to record $1.67B

Reporters gather near a Qatar Airways cargo airplane on the tarmac of Hamad International Airport, as the first commercial flight to Saudi Arabia in three and a half years following a Gulf diplomatic thaw prepares for take-off, Doha, Qatar, Jan. 11, 2021.

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Turkey: UK issues sex-crime warning for travelers, reports 42 cases in 2023

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

As Hajj kicks off, Saudi Arabia looks to expand tourism sector

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Sebastian Castelier

By Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Egyptians await procession of royal mummies to their new home

Some 22 royal mummies will be transported in a major royal procession from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

Egyptian dancers perform the Tanoura during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at el-Ghuri culture Palace in Cairo on May 22, 2018. (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cairo to turn 15th century sultan's caravansary into heritage hotel to boost tourism

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Oct. 24 that it will convert the 15th century Wakala al-Sultan Qaytbay into a heritage hotel after its restoration.

This picture taken on March 9, 2020 shows a view of the "A Sara" Nile cruise ship moored off the river bank of Egypt's southern city of Luxor, where 45 suspected COVID-19 coronavirus disease cases were detected and evacuated two days prior. - Egypt on March 8 reported the country's -- and Africa's -- first fatality from the virus, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in a Red Sea resort in eastern Egypt. The following day, Egypt's health ministry said the total number of known cases had risen to 55. Scores

Nile cruises navigate river of challenges

Following a monthslong hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, cruises on the Nile River have resumed, despite some challenges to the tourism sector in Egypt.

A row of sphinxes at the Ancient Egyptian Luxor Temple complex, during an archaeological dig on the east bank of the Nile, Egypt, circa 1955. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Egypt reviving Luxor's Grand Avenue of Sphinxes

Egypt is moving ahead with the restoration of the Grand Avenue of Sphinxes, which experts say will be a great cultural achievement for Egypt and an exquisite addition to the study of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

A Bedouin man runs with his camel as he prepares it to take part in a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert on September 12, 2020, after more than six month of hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. - Camel racing is a traditional sport in many Arab countries, most notably in the Gulf region, and in Egypt, bedouins of the South Sinai desert have kept up the tradition. But race events have been suspended since March following the COVID-19 outbreak, and orders only came down at the beginning of the month that t

Bedouins in Egypt retreat to more traditional way of life to face COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bedouin community in Egypt, mainly in southern Sinai, that heavily relied on tourism to make ends meet, is retreating deep into the mountains and the desert to live a more traditional life.

Tourists sunbathe by the pool of the Al Naseem hotel in the Gulf emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, on July 7, 2020. - With a "welcome" passport sticker and coronavirus tests on arrival, Dubai reopens its doors to international visitors in the hope of reviving its tourism industry after a nearly four-month closure. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Hotels in the Emirates explore turning kitchens kosher

Israeli business people are already in contact with hotels at the United Arab Emirates, who wish to accommodate their kitchens to the Israeli tourists.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken on October 21, 2017, shows the highway passing through the New Alamein City, situated about 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of the northern city of Alexandria. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

World War II site becomes promising tourist destination in Egypt

As part of the government’s plan to redistribute Egypt’s growing population, a project to turn a World War II site into a resort that also includes residential units is currently underway in north Egypt.

This picture taken on July 1, 2020 shows a general view of (R to L) the Great Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren), and the Pyramid of Menkaure (Menkheres) at the Giza Pyramids necropolis on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, as the archaeological site reopens while the country eases restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - A spree of openings in Egypt comes after the country officially ended a three-month nighttime curfew a fe

Egypt upgrades Giza Plateau to attract tourists back to Pyramids

The Egyptian authorities are advancing their plans to develop the Giza Plateau, where the Pyramids are located, as part of efforts to boost tourism.

ANTALYA, TURKEY - JULY 12: Tourists take part in an aqua aerobics session at an all inclusive Russian themed resort on July 12, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month officially lifted travel restrictions on tourism to Turkey. Russia had banned agency tours to Turkey after a diplomatic crisis erupted when Turkey downed a Russian jet on the Turkey - Syrian border in November 2015. Turkey's tourism is currently in crisis after a series of terrorist attacks, most recently the bom

Turkey’s 'healthy tourism' efforts tested as foreign tourists trickle in

Some 40,000 Russian holidaymakers have thrown a life jacket to Turkey’s main touristic hub of Antalya, while other coastal areas count on locals to keep afloat.

A group of tourists walk past Hagia Sophia as they go toward the historical Sultanahmet district on July 28, 2020 in Istanbul. - The Council of State, the highest administrative court, on July 10, 2020 unanimously cancelled a 1934 decision by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to turn it into a museum, saying it was registered as a mosque in its property deeds. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Coronavirus not stopping flow of Israeli tourists to Turkey

Even before the coronavirus pandemic there was a significant increase in the number of Israelis visiting Turkey, and it seems that the trend continues despite the virus outbreak.

How Tunisia's impoverished southeast remained COVID-19 free

While the isolation and lack of resources may have played a part in keeping cases of the coronavirus from appearing, they've also kept the region's economy in a state of crisis.

Jordan gearing up to reopen kingdom to tourism

The government is hoping to reopen the country for medical tourism amidst growing fears of a second wave and skepticism about the health protocols that will be adopted.