About 24,000 foreign tourists have entered the kingdom of Saudi Arabia within 10 days of the implementation of the decision to allow the issuance of instant tourist visas through airports, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
The Ministry published the number of tourists from the top 10 countries to get the tourist visa as follows: China topped the list with 7391 tourists, the United Kingdom came second with 6159, then the United States of America with 2132 tourists, Canada with 1612 tourists, Malesia with 1107 tourists, France with 744 tourists, Germany with 557 tourists, the Russian Federation with 484 tourists, Australia with 476 tourists, and Kazakhstan with 421 tourists.
One of the most important features of the Saudi tourist visa is that it can be used to perform Umrah without the need for a mahram (an unmarriageable kin with whom marriage or sexual intercourse would be considered illegal in Islam, or people before whom hijab is not obligatory, or legal escorts of a woman during journey longer than 24 hours), for women, outside the Hajj season, or the need for a sponsor as is the case in other work visas.
The tourist visa does not exclude any tourist for reasons of religion or belief, and the tourist can make multiple visits within a year, provided that the duration of the visit does not exceed 90 days.
Saudi tourist visa features the opportunity to perform Umrah without a mahram, no sponsor is needed as work visas, religion or belief has nothing to do with the visa, the opportunity of multiple visits to Saudi Arabia during the year.
These tourist visas are part of Saudi Arabia's plans to create one million jobs and reach 100 million tourists by 2030.
