Tourism

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi's PIF downsizes foreign investment, turns to AI, domestic priorities

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is looking to invest in tourism, real estate and sustainability as its Vision 2030 deadline draws closer.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath addresses the media in Colombo on Oct. 24, 2024.

Sri Lanka arrests 3 men in plot to attack Israeli-run Jewish center: What we know

Three Sri Lankan nationals were arrested on Thursday after Israel's National Security Council urged Israelis to leave certain areas of the country due to "credible terrorism threats."

Rosaleen Carroll

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, in the Oval Office on January 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. The two leaders were expected to discuss a range of issues, including global energy security as concerns about Russian natural gas supplies continue. (Photo by Tom Brenner-Pool/New York Times/Getty Images)

Qatar to join US visa-free travel list in first for Arab country

Qatar is set to become the second Middle Eastern country, behind Israel, to join the US Visa Waiver Program.

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

Latest News

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

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

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

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.

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

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

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

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Sebastian Castelier

By Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

British archaeologist Howard Carter (1874-1939) (R).

New evidence emerges of looting of King Tut's tomb in Egypt

While Egypt celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb, new evidence emerged that the discoverer, Howard Carter, stole objects from it.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

On lightning vacations, Ultra-Orthodox pour onto segregated Israeli beaches

Israel's ultra-Orthodox have only three weeks of yeshiva break, and they take their brief summer vacation very seriously.

Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Wehbe (R) and Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Saar (L) shake hands after signing an agreement, Rabat, Morocco, July 26 , 2022.

Israeli ministers fast-track deepening of ties with Morocco

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Freij and Justice Minister Gideon Saar are only a few of the Israeli ministers and senior officials who have visited Morocco recently.

Rashid Hassan teaches visitors how to harvest lavender correctly.

Lavender ecotourism throws lifeline to rural Lebanese villages

As Lebanon experiences a tourism hike this summer, rural villages and attractions hope to draw tourists away from the capital with the help of ecotourism companies. A day spent discovering lavender in the south is one example.

Passengers arriving from the United States walk with their luggage at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Lod, Israel, Nov. 1, 2021.

US urges Israel to expedite legislation needed for visa waiver

A senior official at the US Embassy in Jerusalem warned that if the Knesset waits until after the Nov. 1 elections to pass legislation required for the American visa-waiver plan, the wait for entering the program could be very long.

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on August 14, 2018.

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project to bring huge investments to Egypt

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country will invest in Sharm el-Sheikh as part of $500 billion NEOM project.

Israeli Ambassador to Uzbekistan Zehavit Ben-Hillel together with students at Webster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 2021.

Israel tightens ties with Uzbekistan

The recently signed agreement over Uzbeki nursing staff traveling to Israel only highlights the rapid growth in economic, diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries.

Digital Tourism Hackathon in Palestine.

West Bank hosts first digital tourism hackathon

For the first time, Palestinians hold a digital tourism hackathon to develop innovative solutions to the problems facing the tourism industry.

A picture taken on July 11, 2013, shows a deserted beach resort near Nuwaiba on the east coast of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Life returns to shores of northern Sinai Peninsula

The northern Sinai governorate has opened the beach in Sheikh Zuweid for residents to vacation and picnic for the first time in more than eight years after terrorist operations and the army’s military response to them.

Tunisia's President Kais Saied (C-R) receives Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune (C-L) as the latter arrives at Tunis-Carthage International Airport, Tunis, Tunisia, Dec. 15, 2021.

Will Tunisia, Algeria relations recover through land border reopening?

Several issues, including gas and the dispute over the Western Sahara, continue to linger over the tense Algerian-Tunisian relations, despite the reopening of the land borders between the two countries.

Bedouin guides lead tourists hiking through the mountains of south Sinai, near St. Catherine, Egypt, April 17, 2015.

Egyptian tourists unwelcome in south Sinai as Israelis visit in droves

Israeli tourists are flocking to south Sinai while Egyptians are being forced to turn back, in violation of the law and the constitution.

US, Israel sign information-sharing agreement

Israel, US sign agreement to facilitate visa waiver program

Israeli and American representatives have signed an information-sharing agreement needed for Israel to join the US Visa Waiver program, but the hurdle of Knesset approval remains.