Saudi to offer unrestricted tourist visas for the first time, but...

[José Balido]

The Guardian reports that as part of a push to diversify the economy away from oil, the Saudis are pushing to develop tourism, with visas available as of tomorrow. But it also points out that it's a "hard sell," due to factors including restrictions on women's dress, lack of alcohol, austere social climate, fears of regional instability, and distaste over the kingdom's tattered human-rights reputation (such as the brutal Kashoggi murder and persecution of women's-rights and other civil activists. Not to mention the fact that the infrastructure to handle greatly expanded tourism does not yet exist. Would you visit Saudi Arabia?

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