Saudi Arabia: Foreign Unmarried Couples To Share Hotel Rooms But Not Saudi Citizens

Male and female tourists in Saudi Arabia can now sleep in the same hotel room without proof of marriage, the kingdom's officials have announced. Another change will allow women to book hotel rooms by themselves.

In a move aimed at enticing foreign visitors, Saudi Arabia has loosened its strict rules on separating men and women. Previously, all couples were required to present proof of marriage before checking into a hotel together. A new rule will now change things — but only for foreigners.

All Saudi nationals are asked to show family ID or proof of relationship on checking into hotels, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage said on Friday.

This is not required of foreign tourists.

The kingdom officially enforces a strict interpretation of Islam, which forbids sex outside marriage. Last week, however, the country offered visas to foreign tourists for the first time in a bid to diversify its oil-based economy.

Saudi officials have hailed it as a historic moment.

Saudi Arabia has also introduced other reforms, such as lifting its ban on women drivers in 2018 and, earlier this year, giving women new rights to travel abroad.

The most recent changes also include the lifting of a rule that required women to have a male guardian rent the room for them.

All women, including Saudis, can book and stay in hotels alone, providing ID on check-in, tourist officials said.

While introducing new freedoms, Saudi Arabia has also published a list of 19 decency rules for tourists.

Offenses include public displays of affection, or playing music at prayer times.

Female tourists are expected to wear clothing covering their shoulders and knees.

With the changes, authorities hope to draw in 100 million annual visits by 2030.

The gradual reforms, introduced by the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also aim to change the nation's archaic image.

However, the efforts have been overshadowed by the brutal murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen and a clampdown on potential rivals and dissidents in the country.

Saudi Arabia welcomed 24,000 tourists in the 10 days after it issued tourist visas for the first time, state television reported on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia announced on September 27 it would start offering tourist visas, opening up the kingdom to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.

In 10 days, some 24,000 foreigners entered Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa, the television reported, citing the Saudi foreign ministry.

Until September 27, the ultra-conservative state only issued visas to Muslim pilgrims, foreign workers and recently to spectators at sporting or cultural events.

To encourage arrivals, authorities announced on Sunday they would allow unmarried foreign couples to rent hotel rooms together.

Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)'s Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the Arab world's largest economy for a post-oil era.

Citizens from 49 countries are now eligible for online e-visas or visas on arrival, including the United States, Australia, several European nations, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, China and Kazakhstan.

Tourism Observer

SAUDI ARABIA: Riyadh Ritz-Carlton Turned Into Luxury Jail For Princes, Ministers, Billionaire Businessmen And Officials

Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on corruption is targeting so many individuals that the government has had to take control of another hotel, but one of lower quality, after it converted the five-star Riyadh Ritz-Carlton into a luxury prison earlier this week for the billionaires, princes, and officials implicated.

Staff at four-star Courtyard by Marriott in the Saudi capital’s diplomatic quarter say that Saudi authorities had forced the hotel take over for their own use forcing guests to leave.

Both November and December were fully booked but authorities forcefully took over the four-star Courtyard by Marriott which they turned into a luxury prison.

The Courtyard by Marriott in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter has been ordered fully booked by Saudi authorities amid a growing crackdown on allegedly corrupt officials and businessmen.

All of the hotel’s guests were told to leave the hotel and find other accommodation.

Marriott International, the hotel company that oversees both the Courtyard and the Ritz-Carlton, did not respond to a request for comment. It had earlier declined to comment about events at the Ritz-Carlton, citing privacy concerns.

As a matter of guest privacy, we do not discuss the guests or groups with whom we do business or who may be visitors of the hotel, it said in a statement.

The move comes after guests at the 52-acre Ritz-Carlton hotel were told to leave, before a video surfaced showing individuals sleeping on the floor of the complex’s Ballroom with armed guards present.

The footage fueled speculation about the whereabouts of those detained and heightened interest in the luxury prison that hosted President Donald Trump as recently as May.

Saudi government arrested dozens of people it accused of corruption, including not only members of its own royal family but billionaire members of the ruling elite, such as investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who boasts a net worth of around $18 billion and stakes in Citigroup and 21st Century Fox.

Other figures arrested included former Riyadh Governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf.

U.S. and Saudi officials walk in the hallway of the Ritz Carlton hotel in the capital Riyadh on May 21, 2017, during a visit of the U.S. president.

The arrests began just hours after King Salman announced the creation of a high-level anti-corruption committee led by his 32-year-old son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The committee was given the power to freeze bank accounts, prevent travel and probe any individual suspected of graft.

Saudi officials have justified the crackdown by citing figures that they say provide evidence of corruption at some of the highest levels of Saudi society.

Saudi Arabia’s attorney general, Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb, said that corrupt officials and practices had lost the Gulf kingdom about $100 billion.

Investigations over the past three years estimate that at least $100 billion has been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades.

Evidence for this wrongdoing is very strong, and confirms the original suspicions which led the Saudi Arabian authorities to begin the investigation in the first place.



Tourism Observer