Tourism

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

UAE becomes first Mideast country with one of world's strongest passports

Emirati citizens have access to 184 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken from a station of Dubai's Palm Monorail, shows traffic on a road in Palm Jumeirah on August 28, 2025.

World Bank ups Middle East 2025 economic outlook as oil, tourism rebound

The lender expects gross domestic product growth in the region to average 2.8% this year, up from its April forecast of 2.6%.

Newly elected Miss Lebanon Perla Harb poses on stage after winning the Miss Lebanon 2025 pageant, in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, on Oct. 4, 2025.

Culture

Miss Lebanon 2025 crowned in ceremony highlighting culture, heritage

Lebanon crowned Perla Harb as the country’s new beauty queen in a grand ceremony highlighting Lebanese culture.

Sheraton

Culture

Damascus hotel to get revamp in Syria-Saudi partnership: What we know

The rebranding and rehabilitation of the Seven Gates Hotel comes as part of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Saudi-owned Le Park Concord hospitality group.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia's PIF buys $2B majority stake in entertainment giant MBC

The Public Investment Fund is present during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2024, in Indian Wells, California.

Saudi Arabia, UAE firms sign $18.5B tourism megaproject for Egypt

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Qataris hail Chinese robotaxis as Gulf embraces driverless cars

WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid airport sets record with 3.9M passengers in July

People wait for the arrival of relatives at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on the first commercial flight from Qatar on Jan. 11, 2021.

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

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

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

The agreement to purchase 50 jets, with an option for 50 more, was made with Lilium, headquartered outside Munich.

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.

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

The Doha-based airline carried more than 40 million passengers over the 2023/2024 financial year, 26% more than over the previous year.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

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

British nationals were the third-largest group of tourists who visited Turkey last year.

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

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

While leisure tourism is gaining momentum in Saudi Arabia, religious tourism still dominates the sector.

Sebastian Castelier

By Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) is escorted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was killed on July 8, 2022, during their meeting in Osaka, Japan, June 30, 2019.

Culture

Despite postponement of MBS' visit, Saudi-Japanese ties on upswing

The increase in high-level visits and overall mutual visits has been the most notable aspect of the development of Saudi-Japanese relations in recent years.

(L to R) EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud during a plenary session titled "Transforming for a New Era", during the Doha Forum in Qatar's capital on March 26, 2022. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

What does EU visa relaxation for Saudi, Bahraini, Omani citizens mean?

Under the new rules, Bahraini, Omani and Saudi Arabian nationals will be eligible for multiple-entry visas, allowing them to visit the Schengen area (the EU’s 27 member states as well as Bulgaria and Romania) and move freely between them.

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Could Etihad Airways become first Gulf airline to launch IPO?

The airline reported on Wednesday that it made a net profit for 2023 and 2022 after a string of substantial losses since 2016.

United Arab Emirates

Hatay Archaeological Museum after the earthquake.

One year after earthquake, Turkey's ancient Antioch still devastated

Scars of the quake that killed 53,000 people and displaced millions run deep, and the road to restoration is fraught with political bickering.

Tourists ride in a horse-drawn carriage near the art installation "Temple" by French artist Stephan Breuer and the Pyramid of Menkaure or Menkheres (front) and the Pyramd of Khafre or Chephren (behind) during the third edition of the "Forever is Now" art exhibition by Art d'Egypte at the Giza pyramids necropolis on October 28, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION (Photo by

Analysis

Egypt's tourism boom offers respite from foreign currency woes, Gaza war

Egyptian tourism revenues and the number of holidaymakers visiting reached record highs in 2023 but will unlikely be enough to cure Cairo’s financial problems.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz meets with representatives of the southern city of Ashkelon during a tour in the region, on Nov. 23, 2023.

Israeli Tourism Ministry shifts focus to evacuees

Israel’s Tourism Ministry took the lead in housing tens of thousands of people who fled their homes in the south and the north of the country following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Tourists and locals visit the Dubai Mall aquarium in downtown Dubai, January 2, 2019.

What the Gulf states new unified visa means for Saudi, UAE, other citizens

The new Schengen-like visa — allowing seamless travel between members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — will be introduced during 2024-25.