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Saudi Arabia opens tourism for the first time, and China is included in the list of countries that o

Original title: Saudi Arabia opens tourist visas to foreign tourists for the first time

Saudi Arabia announced on the 27th that Saudi Arabia will officially open tourist visa applications to citizens of 49 countries, including China, from the 28th. This is the first time Saudi Arabia has opened tourist visas to foreign tourists.

Ahmed & middot, chairman of the Saudi general agency for tourism and national heritage; At the opening tourist visa ceremony held in Riyadh that night, Khatib said that citizens of these 49 countries can apply for e-visas online or apply for landing visas when arriving in Saudi Arabia. He said that opening to international tourists is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia, 'we welcome different cultures and religions'.

Khatib said that the Saudi government's goal is to reach 100 million international and domestic tourists per year by 2030, a significant increase from the current 40 million. Opening up tourism will promote investment and is expected to create 1 million jobs.

In an interview with Xinhua news agency, Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chen Weiqing welcomed Saudi Arabia's inclusion of China in the list of countries open to tourist visas.

For a long time, Saudi Arabia is a rare country in the world that does not issue tourist visas. Saudi Arabia put forward 'vision 2030' in 2016, which aims to reduce its dependence on oil and develop a diversified economy through 'two wheel drive' of economic and social reform. Developing tourism is an important part of vision 2030. It is estimated that by 2030, the contribution of tourism to Saudi Arabia's GDP will reach 10%, compared with 3% at present.