Saudi Arabia is well positioned to brand itself as an archaeological travel destination, a Jeddah-based executive of hotels group Hilton said, adding that he expects tourists to be given more freedom on the Saudi beaches in limited areas. However, he said that he does not expect a lift on the kingdom’s ban on alcohol.

Kamel Ajami, Hilton’s vice president for operations in Saudi Arabia and the Levant region told Zawya in an interview on Monday that he thinks Saudi Arabia should work on promoting its old heritage and places and culture to attract more tourists.

“All the heritage and cultural positions and options that you have there… it is like Oman when it opened (up)...  when the tourism started going there to check and see new things,” Ajami told Zawya in an interview in Dubai on the sidelines of the Dubai-hosted Arabian Travel Market conference and exhibition. He said the kingdom should also use its long beachfronts on the Red Sea to attract new tourists.

Over the past two years, Saudi Arabia has been working hard to boost its growth and diversify its sources of income after a sharp fall in oil prices which began in 2014. The kingdom, the world’s largest exporter of oil, announced a sweeping set of economic reforms in 2016, which included revamping its tourism sector.

Liberalisation has already begun in the entertainment sector, with new concerts being held and the first commercial movie theatres opening this month for the first time in over three decades. The religiously conservative kingdom also announced plans to issue tourist visas to foreigners this year. Currently, only resident employees and their families, business travelers, and Muslim pilgrims are allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom has also announced plans to develop resorts on about 50 islands off its Red Sea coast, Reuters said, quoting a statement by the kingdom’s news agency SPA last August.

However conservative rules governing women’s dress code could pose a challenge to attracting tourists to its beaches and resorts. Most women in Saudi Arabia are obliged to wear an abaya and many wear a head cover, or a head and face cover. Women in Saudi Arabia were only granted a permission to drive cars last year, and swimwear considered to be revealing is outlawed.

Ajami said that swimsuits could be allowed in certain destinations in the kingdom in the future,but he does not expect the kingdom to allow the selling or consumption of alcohol.

He said that the media has recently carried comments by the Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman recently suggesting that the kingdom could allow tourists more freedom in certain areas. 

“There  might be areas where tourists will enjoy and act freely but this is to do with swimming habits, swimming suits. But more than this, I don’t think there is a clear (clarity),”  Ajami said. 

Ajami said he does not expect the Saudi ban of alcohol to affect the flow of tourists to the kingdom. “When it comes to habits, culture... Everybody wants to respect the culture of any country that they go to, including Saudi Arabia as well."

“A dream come true”

The senior Hilton official said the announcement of the Saudi 2030 economic transformation plan  in April 2016,  which endorsed tourism as a driver for growth, was “a dream come true to anybody that works in the hospitality industry.“

“Just put it this way, when most of the business comes to the country either for the religious market or the corporate industry, then suddenly we see that there are more options and venues for such a business, you immediately start thinking of what you are going to do, how you are going to participate in this and be a partner in the vision,” Ajami said.

Hilton has 10 hotels in Saudi Arabia and Ajami said that 30 more are in the pipeline but he did not specify a timeline or locations. 

Ajami said he is hopeful that the tourist visas will have a quick, positive impact on the Saudi Arabian market.

“Everybody heard of Saudi Arabia but nobody knows a lot about Saudi Arabia except the religious areas.”

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Editing by Michael Fahy)

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