KARACHI: The Saudi Tourism Authority hosted its first networking event in Pakistan this week with the aim to spotlight the Kingdom as a “destination beyond just religious experiences” and invite visitors to see its pristine beauty, cultural diversity and heritage.
Saudi Arabia is a major religious destination with millions visiting Islam’s two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah annually to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. But the Kingdom in recent years has started to promote leisure travel as part of a strategy aimed at diversifying the economy away from oil, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Last year, the Saudi government revised its domestic and international visitor target upwards from 100 million to 150 million by 2030.
“The government has a vision to increase this number by three or 10-fold in the days to come, as per the vision of Vision 2030 by Crown Mohammed bin Salman, and that’s what we are all collectively working on, enhancing this…