Norwegians can get e-tourist visas to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia.Photo: pixabay.com

In an attempt to attract more tourists, Saudi Arabia opens up to issue electronic visas to residents of 49 countries, including Norway.

Saudi Arabia has long been one of the world’s most closed countries, and getting a visa for the oil-rich kingdom has been a complicated affair. In the main, there have been Muslims on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

But now the country’s crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman wants to increase tourism revenue by 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, up from today’s 2 percent, according to Canadian CNBC News.

On Friday, the new e-visa program will be launched, among other things during an event in Oslo.

Besides Norway, a number of European countries, as well as the USA, Australia, Japan and South Korea are included in the group.

The Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory for Saudi Arabia, where it is advised not to travel to or stay in places less than 50 kilometers from the border with neighboring Yemen, and otherwise exercise caution because of the ongoing war and the risk of attacks by rebels in Yemen across the border to Saudi Arabia.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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