MM News

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced that it will now allow fully vaccinated tourists to enter the kingdom after a 17-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi state news agency reported today (Friday).

According to a statement by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, every individual, eligible in accordance with the enforced policy, is being let in the country on the basis of their vaccination cards and positive reports of the PCR tests done 72 hours before their travel.

“The individuals willing to enter the country would just need to show their vaccination cards and they will not be quarantined after they land,” read the statement.

However, Riyadh did not announce any lifting of restrictions on Umrah, which can be performed at any time and usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe each year.

Meanwhile, only those people who have been vaccinated with the jabs of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — the vaccines approved by the KSA’s government — will be the ones enjoying entrance into the country as per the statement.

In addition to this, the travellers must register themselves on the new electronic portal introduced by the ministry. The portal will secure the registered individuals’ data in a related application for them to show while entering any public space within the country.

The Saudi government had stopped issuing tourist visas in March 2020 when the travel bans were imposed as a consequence of the pandemic, which was soon after it took a major step towards building a tourism industry for the first time in 2019.

Covid-19 also hugely disrupted Haj and Umrah pilgrimages, usually a key revenue earner for the kingdom — in normal times, they together rake in some $12 billion annually.

Currently, only immunised pilgrims who are residents of Saudi Arabia are eligible for Umrah permits. The government has accelerated a nationwide vaccination drive as it moves to revive tourism and host sports and entertainment extravaganzas, all pandemic-hit sectors.