Saudi Arabia will operate 20 flights a week and facilitate ground travel to attract tens of thousands of soccer fans to the World Cup in neighbouring Qatar, the tourism minister of the kingdom told AFP on Wednesday.
The measures are aimed at easing the kingdom’s growing tourism industry, which began issuing tourist visas in September 2019—just months before the coronavirus pandemic devastated the industry worldwide.
The kingdom is expected to welcome more fans from neighbouring Qatar, with more than 160 daily shuttle flights between them, and to ease visa requirements. Saudi Arabia also offered repeat 60-day visas to holders of the World Cup Hayya Pass, a mandatory permit for ticket holders.
Weekly flights from Saudi Arabia to Qatar will rise from the usual six to 20 during the month-long tournament, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb said on the sidelines of an investment forum in Riyadh.
For travellers in the country, authorities have improved roads from Riyadh, near Qatar, and cities in eastern Saudi Arabia to the border, Khateeb said. They also expanded access to gas stations, internet access, and first aid and other medical services along the route.
It takes “less than 10 minutes” to cross his newly opened 10-lane border crossing, he added.
By making cross-border travel easier, we can offer ticket holders an alternative to Saudi Arabia for an overnight stay in Doha, which over a million fans look forward to.
“On transportation, mobility, airlines, airports, borders, health, and telecommunications, I believe we are ready. “We are ready and excited,” Kateb said. Added: Prince Mohammed bin Salman includes the upcoming $500 billion megacity Neom, a growing arts centre surrounded by the ancient Nabatean Al-Ula tombs, the Red Sea Project, and a Maldives-style resort.
