Is Saudi Arabia the next big heritage tourism destination?

[Saif al-Arab]

This forum is not run by your father dear najdi! I will continue to add my comments. This tourism drama is only promoting idol worshipping according to your own logic due to which the holy places were destroyed. BDW, your ulemas already declared "visiting" any site except Makkah and Madina haram! Lolz at your fatwas! Hypocrisy is at best with najdis! Your ancestors killed thousands of Muslims for occupying these lands supposedly saudi!

It is, when you can't follow the forum rules.

Listen my dear Pakistani, you are simply too ignorant to waste further time on. Also it seems to me that you have a hard time understanding English.

Stop spreading bullshit. If that was the case 1000's upon 1000's (literary) heritage sites would not have been discovered, rediscovered, worked on, turned into heritage sites, being opened up for tourism (an on-ongoing process) with local participation of archaeologists, historians, government officials etc.

You either stop spreading bullshit or post those supposed "fatwas" (as if anyone takes the opinion of every single Sheikh or Mullah seriously - in such a case you Pakistanis have the biggest problem in the Muslim world). Show me a single fatwa in Arabic from a supposedly Saudi Arabian scholar, that confirms your nonsense.

It does not correspondent to the reality.

Once again, I am not a Najdi but you might be a Pakistani of Indian origin (Muhajir) for all I know, but even if I was, I would certainly not be ashamed of it.

My ancestors share ancestry in common with all the Prophets before Prophet Muhammad (saws), Prophet Muhammad (saws) himself, basically all the Sahabah, all the most famous scholars and most of the Islamic scientists throughout history and during the Islamic Golden Age (also happened under the watch of my ancestors), 4 of the 5 dynasties who ruled the Caliphate (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid) for 1000 years which were the largest, most successful and most influential Caliphates in Islamic history. I am not going to compare your situation here (it is also irrelevant) but since you began talking about ancestors, here I am. And I did not even talk about the pre-Islamic era, which this thread gives a small glimpse of.

Now are you done defecting in public in a informative thread or do you need a bit more time?

 

[AbuzarIlyas]

It is, when you can't follow the forum rules.

Listen my dear Pakistani, you are simply too ignorant to waste further time on. Also it seems to me that you have a hard time understanding English.

Stop spreading bullshit. If that was the case 1000's upon 1000's (literary) heritage sites would not have been discovered, rediscovered, worked on, turned into heritage sites, being opened up for tourism (an on-ongoing process) with local participation of archaeologists, historians, government officials etc.

You either stop spreading bullshit or post those supposed "fatwas" (as if anyone takes the opinion of every single Sheikh or Mullah seriously - in such a case you Pakistanis have the biggest problem in the Muslim world). Show me a single fatwa in Arabic from a supposedly Saudi Arabian scholar, that confirms your nonsense.

It does not correspondent to the reality.

Once again, I am not a Najdi but you might be a Pakistani of Indian origin (Muhajir) for all I know, but even if I was, I would certainly not be ashamed of it.

My ancestors share ancestry in common with all the Prophets before Prophet Muhammad (saws), Prophet Muhammad (saws) himself, basically all the Sahabah, all the most famous scholars and most of the scientists, 4 of the 5 dynasties who ruled the Caliphate (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid) which were the largest, most successful and most influential Caliphates in Islamic history. I am not going to compare your situation here (it is also irrelevant) but since you began talking about ancestors, here I am.

Now are you done defeating in a informative thread or do you need a bit more time?

A najdi from RIYADH is as impossible as Muhammad bin Wahab or Sheikh Najdi! You probably had killed me if i was in KSA! ta ta

 

[Blue Marlin]

Saudi Arabia and Tourist Destination are word that dont belong together.
you would need a revolution and a major civil libtardisation change for the country to be suitable for ordinary tourists.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

A najdi from RIYADH is as impossible as Muhammad bin Wahab or Sheikh Najdi! You probably had killed me if i was in KSA! ta ta

BTW we should rebuilt those shrines of our dead ancestors and people, in order for your likes to visit in the millions as an additional bonus to the already huge and continuously growing numbers. However I am afraid that we would need to built some cage around the area to protect other pilgrims from the stupidity of such practices. I personally would not mine but hey, I was not there 90 years ago. Nor did bulldozers exist back then from what I am aware of. Maybe an evil time traveler, who knows?

Yes, I am about to pick up my handmade Arabian sword and my fingers are already itching.

Saudi Arabia and Tourist Destination are word that dont belong together.
you would need a revolution and a major civil libtardisation change for the country to be suitable for ordinary tourists.

You clearly don't know anything about KSA and KSA is already one of the most visited countries in the world. More Westerners (as if they are the only tourists in the world, lol) live and visit KSA (business, tourism, work) than most Muslim countries. They are doing fine and most do not complain at all.

Visit this thread below and inform yourself. Or go visit Youtube or Google.

Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. According to the World Bank, approximately 14.3 million people visited Saudi Arabia in 2012, making it the world’s 19th-most-visited country.[308] Tourism is an important component of the Saudi Vision 2030 and according to a report conducted by BMI Research in 2018,both religious and non-religious tourism have potential for significant expansion.[309]
​

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/tour...nities-and-challenges-open-discussion.564089/

According to most recent statistics, KSA is the 15th most visited country in the world and there are almost 200 sovereign countries and the potential is enormous and untapped. There is no doubt in KSA becoming a future tourist hub.


Opinion: Saudi Arabia needs to spread the word
Hard work is needed to turn the kingdom's tourism dreams into a reality

Mada’in Saleh: The Nabatean ruins are one of Saudi Arabia’s many cultural attractions
As GCC countries adjust to lower oil prices and strive to diversify their economies, one sector in particular looks set to experience exponential growth and play a prominent role: tourism.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Saudi Arabia, which for the first time in its history, is swinging open its doors to non-religious tourism. When the kingdom begins issuing tourist visas – an imminent and significant milestone – the country will begin a new chapter that has the potential to completely transform the kingdom.

Natural attractions

Luckily for Saudi, it has an enormous advantage in that it comes with ready-made attractions that will appeal to travellers of all kinds. There were plenty of reminders of this fact at last week’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, where promotional posters of the country’s attractions covered every column. From stunning archaeological sites such as Mada’in Saleh (above) to natural wonders like the Al Wahbah volcanic crater and diving in the Red Sea, the country has plenty to offer.


“The kingdom is a very big treasure,” Saudi tourism chief Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said in a recent interview with AFP. “We’re not just oil traders.”

Saudi Arabia’s mission now – and its challenge – is to promote these sites to a world that is still largely unaware of them, as it did at Arabian Travel Market. Just as important, however, will be the kingdom’s efforts to shrug off a long-standing perception that the country’s tourism sector is limited to religious pilgrims and business travellers with a day or two to spare.

For companies involved in the travel, hospitality and tourism businesses, the opportunities are enormous. Saudia CEO Jaan Albrecht for example, says that he expects “glory days” for the airline as it works to accommodate an influx of non-religious tourists, and many hotel brands have announced significant expansion plans for Saudi Arabia. Chief among them is the UAE-based Rotana, which by the end of this year will have seven hotels in the kingdom, with three more in the pipeline.

Economic imperative

For Saudi Arabia, the implications of an enlarged tourism sector are enormous. Aside from the obvious benefits of tourism revenues to GDP, travel and tourism will help alleviate some of the kingdom’s unemployment rate, which in recent years has hovered around an alarming 12 percent. Tackling this issue forms a major part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reforms, and the tourism sector has the potential to create 1.2 million jobs, which primarily will go to Saudis.

Making this dream a reality will, of course, require hard work from all stakeholders involved in the industry, from airlines, to hotels, tour agencies and the government. The visa rules might have relaxed, but as I can personally attest after a painful application process for a work trip, there is much room for improvement.

So it will also require enthusiasm and a heavy dose of informal promotion. There are no better ambassadors for Saudi’s tourism sector than those involved in it, and those who have seen the country’s attractions with their own eyes.

It is up to them now to spread the word.

For all the latest business news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.
Last Updated: Fri 27 Apr 2018 12:25 AM GST

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/395222-saudi-arabia-swings-open-its-doors

Opening up? A historic building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea port ( Saudi Tourism )
INDYGO
IS SAUDI ARABIA THE NEXT HOLIDAY HOTSPOT?

https://www.independent.co.uk/trave...sa-change-red-sea-jeddah-riyadh-a8241191.html

Other similar articles in the past few years echoing much of the same from the likes of Wall Street Journal, New York Times etc.


Will Saudi Arabia Open Itself Up for Tourism?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/will-saudi-arabia-open-itself-up-for-tourism-1468605153

CreditBryan Denton for The New York Times
In Saudi Arabia, a Kingdom to Myself
Untrammeled beaches, ancient sites and unfiltered local culture are all on offer in Saudi Arabia. Just don’t expect an easy trip.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/travel/saudi-arabia-tourism.html

Saudi Arabia issues tourist visas: The world's newest travel destination is also its most controversial
BEN GROUNDWATER

Last updated 14:30, April 3 2018

Vivian Nereim/Washington Post
Sun, sand, religious police: holidays in Saudi Arabia may be hard sell. FFX-travel


OPINION: The world will soon have a new travel destination.

It's a warm place, this destination, where the sun is always shining. It has beaches. It has sea. It will soon have multi-million-dollar beach resorts on secluded coastlines and islands.

This place has a history that stretches back almost to the beginning of human civilisation. It has ruins from the Nabatean civilisation, the creators of famed Petra in Jordan. It has modern-day religious monuments of scale and importance the likes of which you've never before seen.

It has big cities and modern facilities; small villages in scenic places. It has a tasty, unique cuisine. And it has a local populace who are surely keen for some of their first interactions with the outside world. Pretty exciting, right?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/dest...el-destination-is-also-its-most-controversial

etc. etc.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/w...udi-arabia-to-pump-petrodollars-into-tourism/

Red Sea Project

NEOM

https://twitter.com/x/status/913871226401116160

https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/new-vision-saudi-arabia

 

[Blue Marlin]

You clearly don't know anything about KSA and KSA is already one of the most visited countries in the world. More Westerners (as if they are the only tourists in the world, lol) live and visit KSA (business, tourism, work) than most Muslim countries. They are doing fine and most do not complain at all.

no sh!t sherlock, muslims go there for haj and umra which is a pilgrimage. they dont count as tourists.
westerners are typically the more wealthier people. i have plenty of muslim friends who tell me about their experiences in saudi arabia. they treat you like shit if your not an arab, and the odd white guy i treated a level above god. this is more prevalent in countries where there's a lot of tourists from different backgrounds where white guys are given more of a preference over a south asain or black guy.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

no sh!t sherlock, muslims go there for haj and umra which is a pilgrimage. they dont count as tourists.
westerners are typically the more wealthier people. i have plenty of muslim friends who tell me about their experiences in saudi arabia. they treat you like shit if your not an arab, and the odd white guy i treated a level above god. this is more prevalent in countries where there's a lot of tourists from different backgrounds where white guys are given more of a preference over a south asain or black guy.

Ever heard about religious tourism? Many countries of the world put great emphasis on it. Last time I checked it's tourism as well.

More pathetic ignorant nonsense that is not worth wasting your time on.

I heard from my cousins friend's cousin and her great-grandmothers sibling that Martians once lived in KSA too.

 

[Rusty]

TOO MUCH BIDDAH

Saudi better destroy all of it before people start to think for themselves.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

TOO MUCH BIDDAH

Saudi better destroy all of it before people start to think for themselves.

When has KSA ever destroyed ancient heritage other than a few century old useless shrines (not original) that can be rebuilt easily but won't be due to such practices being un-Islamic?

Please enlighten me Arab-obsssed genius.

BTW is Pakistan of today not much more infested by such likes that you are imagining? That's what world news tells us and complains on this forum from Pakistanis.

@The SC what was it that you called that guy again, brother, a rusty brain or something alike? Fits well.

 

[AbuzarIlyas]

When has KSA ever destroyed ancient heritage other than a few century old useless shrines (not original) that can be rebuilt easily but won't be due to such practices being un-Islamic?

Please enlighten me Arab-obsssed genius.

BTW is Pakistan of today not much more infested by such likes that you are imagining? That's what world news tells us and complains on this forum from Pakistanis.

@The SC what was it that you called that guy again, brother, a rusty brain or something alike? Fits well.

DOG OF HELL is calling the shrines useless! Can PDF management allow such shameless creatures like this?

 

[Rusty]

When has KSA ever destroyed ancient heritage other than a few century old useless shrines (not original) that can be rebuilt easily but won't be due to such practices being un-Islamic?

Please enlighten me Arab-obsssed genius.

BTW is Pakistan of today not much more infested by such likes that you are imagining? That's what world news tells us and complains on this forum from Pakistanis.

@The SC what was it that you called that guy again, brother, a rusty brain or something alike? Fits well.

I'm assuming you are an Arab, which would explain why you are not too bright.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites_in_Saudi_Arabia

That's just the tip of the iceberg of the evidence you can find.

Now mods here love Arabs, so you can call me an *** hole and it will be fine, but if I say anything against you, I'll get a strike.

So I'll let the evidence speak for itself.

 

[Blue Marlin]

Ever heard about religious tourism? Many countries of the world put great emphasis on it. Last time I checked it's tourism as well.
.

thanks you have proved my point.
they dont go to saudi arabia because they want to, they have to go because they have too (haj)

 

[Saif al-Arab]

I'm assuming you are an Arab, which would explain why you are not too bright.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites_in_Saudi_Arabia

That's just the tip of the iceberg of the evidence you can find.

Now mods here love Arabs, so you can call me an *** hole and it will be fine, but if I say anything against you, I'll get a strike.

So I'll let the evidence speak for itself.

Arabs and our glorious ancestors founded the oldest and most influential civilizations on the planet, some of the largest and most influential empires of all-time and the largest and most influential in the Muslim world. The average IQ of Arabs is higher than Pakistanis. Literacy rates are also higher.

All related to shrines and tombs.

I asked you what ancient heritage that was destroyed in KSA. Either you are too dumb to understand this simple question or you don't know what to answer.

DOG OF HELL is calling the shrines useless! Can PDF management allow such shameless creatures like this?

The only dog I can see here is the one on your avatar. Now go worship some shrine or stone or whatever in Pakistan or Gambia. No such things in KSA. Don't care. Just don't pollute this thread with nonsense.

Yes, I consider tombs of dead people to be useless. I don't visit tombs.

thanks you have proved my point.
they dont go to saudi arabia because they want to, they have to go because they have too (haj)

They don't have to if they can't. You don't know anything about that and if my auntie had balls she would be my uncle "king of logic" is quite silly.

75% of the visitors to KSA are not religious pilgrims btw but whatever. As I told you, you are an ignorant so wasting my time on you is that, a waste of time.

@SALMAN F

Check those obsessive hateful creatures in action. Trying hard to pollute an highly informative thread

 

[AbuzarIlyas]

Arabs and our glorious ancestors founded the oldest and most influential civilizations on the planet, some of the largest and most influential empires of all-time and the largest and most influential in the Muslim world. The average IQ of Arabs is higher than Pakistanis. Literacy rates are also higher.

All related to shrines and tombs.

I asked you what ancient heritage that was destroyed in KSA. Either you are too dumb to understand this simple question or you don't know what to answer.



The only dog I can see here is the one on your avatar. Now go worship some shrine or stone or whatever. Don't care. Just don't pollute this thread with nonsense.

Yes, I consider tombs of dead people to be useless. I don't visit tombs.



They don't have to if they can't. You don't know anything about that and if my auntie had balls she would be my uncle "king of logic" is quite silly.

75% of the visitors to KSA are not religious pilgrims btw but whatever. As I told you, you are an ignorant so wasting my time on you is that, a waste of time.

@SALMAN F

Check those obsessive hateful creatures in action. Trying hard to pollute and highly informative thread

you are just showing your inner garbage and your filthy mind! hell to all najdis involved in killings of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Hejaz, Turkey and other Arab provinces... Your ancestors looted and plundered the shrines in late 1800s and early 1900s and you are shamefully proud of it. Useless idiot!

 

[Blue Marlin]

You don't know anything about that and if my auntie had balls she would be my uncle "king of logic" is quite silly.

what are you even talking about ?

70% of the visitors to KSA are not religious pilgrims btw but whatever. As I told you, you are an ignorant so wasting my time on you is that, a waste of time.

if it shuts you up then ok, its quiet clear i stood on a nerve.

@SALMAN F

i think it best you do call on someone more reserved, your quiet agitated at the moment.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

you are just showing your inner garbage and your filthy mind! hell to all najdis involved in killings of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Hejaz, Turkey and other Arab provinces... Your ancestors looted and plundered the shrines in late 1800s and early 1900s and you are shamefully proud of it. Useless idiot!

Listen you dumb donkey, your useless mumbo jumbo is getting tiring. For the 100th time, I am not from Najd. Arabia has been the most peaceful part of the Muslim world in the past 1400 years. No genocides and wide-scale wars can be counted on 2 hands.

Lastly I still don't care about shrines. I am sorry. I told you what to do. If you want to visit elaborate golden shrines of dead Arabs from modern-day KSA, you should visit Iraq or Iran. Those buried in KSA (majority) are buried like how all Muslims personalities have been buried. As humble as they came to life (as all people).

Now are you done defecting in this thread and obsessing about imaginary Najdis?

@azzo @Full Moon