Saudi Arabia reopens to vaccinated foreign tourists

Visitors must have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine that has been approved for use in the kingdom

The Red Sea port location of Historical Jeddah is included on the Unesco World Heritage List

Historical Jeddah used to be hub of traders and Muslim pilgrims

Rock art in the Al Hail Region shows inscriptions and camels on a rock at the base of Jebel Umm Sinman in Saudi Arabia

A mud brick building from the Unesco World Heritage Site Al Turaif in Ad Diriyah

A woman walking past rose-coloured sandstone in Hegra, a Unesco World Heritage site, near Saudi Arabia's northwestern town of Al Ula

The undulating architecture of Al Turaif in Ad Diriyah

Hegra, also known as Madain Saleh, was the first archaeological site in Saudi Arabia to join Unesco's World Heritage List

Welcome ceremony for annual G20 Summit World Leaders is projected onto Salwa Palace in Al Turaif, one of Saudi Arabia’s Unesco World Heritage sites, in Diriyah

A mud-brick building in Unesco World Heritage Site Al Turaif in Ad Diriyah

Al Hima Cultural Area is home to more than 30 sites of historical rock art

A traditional well in the Qasr Sahood neighbourhood of the Al Ahsa Oasis, Saudi Arabia

A view of the Al Ahsa Oasis in the desert of Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia will allow fully immunised tourists to enter the country for the first time in 17 months, the country’s Ministry of Tourism said on Sunday.

Visitors are now allowed to enter the kingdom without quarantine if they have two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

Those immunised with the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines will be allowed to enter if they have also had a booster dose of any approved vaccine.

Entry from the 17 countries on the Saudi travel ban list, which includes the UAE, remains forbidden.

The kingdom’s Ministry of Interior warned Saudi citizens not to travel to any of the countries on the list.

“Anyone who does will be subject to legal accountability upon his return and be banned from travelling for three years,” a representative said.

Kingdom prepares to welcome Umrah pilgrims

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said more than 20,000 pilgrims would “be received from within and without the kingdom to perform Umrah in the upcoming days”.

Pilgrims must be adults, in good health and fully immunised against Covid-19. They must also comply with health protocol.

A total of 500 Umrah agencies and 6,000 foreign Umrah agents are set to receive pilgrims from abroad.

Covid-19 vaccination is also now mandatory to enter government premises and some private buildings in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said public, private and non-profit organisations would not allow unvaccinated employees or visitors to enter their establishments.

“Entry for people under 12 years old is allowed as they are among the groups excluded from vaccinations,” a government spokesman said.

Employers have been told to allow unvaccinated staff to work remotely or let them take leave until they have been immunised.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Commerce said the fine for establishments flouting the safety measures would start at 10,000 Saudi riyals ($2,666) and could reach 100,000 Saudi riyals.

In total, 3,400 establishments were penalised for breaching precautionary measures in July.

More than 27 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the kingdom at 587 vaccination centres.

Twelve deaths and 1,084 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours.