Tourist visa, archaeology event as Saudi opens up

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Close on the heels of the discovery of around 400 mysterious ancient stone structures known as “gates” in the desert of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is set to host an international archaeology convention which will offer details of the latest findings as the ultra-conservative and secretive Gulf kingdom takes yet another step to open up to the rest of world.

The announcement of the November 7-9 Saudi Archaeology Convention came alongside Riyadh’s decision to start issuing tourist visas “soon.” Long insulated from the non-Muslim world and considered as among the most challenging countries to get a visa for, both the latest decisions from Saudi Arabia are seen as a bid to transform its image from a closed country to one that is more welcoming to foreign visitors.

Ancient stone "gates" in Saudi Arabia viewed from a satellite./Google Earth Photo

“Tourist visas will be introduced soon,” Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), told a press conference on Monday as he announced the details of the first Saudi Archaeology Convention to be held in Riyadh next week.

Push for tourism and heritage

While millions of Muslims travel for their annual Hajj (meaning pilgrimage in Arabic) to Mecca and also nearby Medina, considered the two holiest sites in Islam, the kingdom never had a clear policy on “tourist visa” for non-Muslim foreign travelers so far.

But all that might change soon with Prince Sultan, a son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the first Saudi astronaut, driving the push for encouraging tourism and heritage as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to diversify the economy away from oil.

A system has been put in place for the issuance of tourist visas, and it will be launched soon, Prince Sultan said. SCTH has been working with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue, he informed.

Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, (C) speaks during a press conference in Riyadh on October 30, 2017. /Photo by the Center for International Communication, Ministry of Culture and Information

The tourism sector has been earmarked by the government as a key driver for growth and currently employs some 900,000 workers. An estimated 18 million Muslims visited Saudi Arabia in 2016, most of whom came for Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, according to official figures.

To make the kingdom attractive to foreign tourists, Saudi Arabia has announced some major projects as part of Vision 2030, including the Red Sea Project, a coastal lagoon covering some 50 untouched islands stretching along more than 150 kilometers of unpopulated coastline. The project will comprise exquisite luxury resorts, underwater nature reserves and dormant volcanoes within an area of 34,000 square kilometers.

Stringent social norms a deterrent

A skyline of north Riyadh shows the Saudi capital's landmarks including the Kingdom Tower. /Wikimedia Commons B. alotaby Photo

However, it will need much more than that if it really wants to draw a large number of foreigners. Some of the stringent laws and conservative social norms in the kingdom remain a major deterrence for foreigners to travel. Alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia, which is a big discouragement for Western tourists.

Despite the Saudi King’s recent decision to revoke the driving ban on women – yet another move to transform its image – Saudi women face stifling barriers including a strict dress code and segregation of genders in public places.

Then there are the much-feared secret police, who often keep a close watch on foreign visitors, and the draconian moral police, whose job is to chastise people if they are perceived to have violated moral norms.

Foreign tourists wanting to have an “Arabian Nights” experience mostly travel to neighboring Dubai or Egypt to explore a mix of modern attractions such as Burj Khalifa and man-made islands and archaeological wonders such as the Pyramids and the treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Many in the region joke that even Saudis prefer to vacation in Dubai, where they can wear what they want and go to nightclubs or movie theaters.

Ancient sites and recent discoveries

The layered rock formations of Mount Athlib near one of the kingdom’s best-known archaeological sites - Madain Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was built more than 2,000 years ago by the ancient Nabateans. /Photo by SaudiTourism.sa

With its latest moves, Saudi Arabia is hoping that its hitherto unknown and largely unseen historic and archaeological sites doubled with an effort to relax traveling into the kingdom will be able to draw more foreign tourists.

One of the kingdom’s best-known archaeological sites is Madain Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is the southern outpost of the ancient Nabateans, the people who carved from stone the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Madain Saleh, a collection of ornate tombs carved into huge rock formations in the desert, is more than 2,000 years old.

Another important site is Diriyah, a small ancient city about 20 kilometers from the capital of Riyadh whose historical Turaif District was granted UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site in 2010.

A traditional Saudi group performs in Diriyah, a small ancient city about 20 kilometers from the capital of Riyadh whose historical Turaif District was granted UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site in 2010. /Photo by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage

Then there are the recently-discovered man-made edifices known as “gates” dating back to 2,000 to 9,000 years ago. Australian archaeologist David Kennedy, whose team has spent decades on recording thousands of archaeological sites in the Middle East, is expected to provide details of his latest discoveries at the forthcoming convention. The event will be attended by many prominent experts including the renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass.

“Archaeologists from around the world, including joint international-Saudi teams working on excavations in the kingdom, will descend on the Saudi capital next week for a major archaeology convention to talk shop and share their experiences with the general public,” said a press release from Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information’s Center for International Communication.

The first-of-its-kind convention in the kingdom will also include a scientific conference that covers various topics: the pre-historic antiquities, rock art, Hajj and trade routes, the Arabian Peninsula’s pre-Islamic antiquities, antiquities of the Islamic ages, arts and architecture, sunken antiquities, ancient and Islamic writings, and heritage sites.

Archaeology struggles against religion

Archaeology and heritage have been a touchy subject in the Islamic kingdom, where ultraconservative clerics believe that the veneration of ancient sites is heretical and actively call for the obliteration of any potential site that may violate their strict interpretation of religion.

An aerial view of the Grand Mosque flanked by the Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel in the holy city of Mecca‍ in Saudi Arabia. /Reuters Photo

Experts estimate more than 90 percent of the archaeological treasures of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have been destroyed and modern hotels, apartments and parking lots have been built in those places. Fears that archaeology could reveal more about Saudi Arabia’s pre-Islamic past have led the radicals to campaign against excavations.

However, in recent years, the Saudi ruling family has been silently defying the clerics to allow international archaeologists to work in the sites of Maidan Saleh, Diriyah and other such places of historic interest.

“We aim to introduce our citizens to the antiquities of their country and its archaeological richness, only ten percent of which has been discovered,” Prince Sultan said, adding: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is equal to any place in the world in terms of historical and cultural assets, and this forum will bring that to light through the participation of a number of the world’s leading archaeologists.”

A visitor looks at a bronze lion from the 1st century BCE at an exhibit at the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula has a rich, largely unexplored history, dotted with ancient kingdoms and crisscrossed by caravan routes carrying frankincense to the Mediterranean that drew in the Romans. But its treasures are little known outside a small circle of archaeologists and academics. /AP Photo

Museums in Saudi Arabia now display historic artefacts found from the excavations including bronze nudes of Hercules and Apollo, however, female statuettes are still not exhibited. Also, archaeological findings of religious issues are usually a sensitive subject. An ancient church discovered by tourists in 1986 in Jubail in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, for instance, is still off limits for visitors.

The SCTH organized convention at the King Abdulaziz Historical Center in Riyadh will include ten archeological and other exhibitions that will be open to the public for 50 days.

(Top photo: Temples and stone monuments in Madain Saleh, also known as Al Hijr. Some of the temples are for general use and others for special worship, and many of them were built around Mount Athlib to the northeast of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia. /Photo by SaudiTourism.sa)

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