Destinations knownA holiday in Saudi Arabia? But what about its human rights record, you ask. If you want squeaky clean, not many countries will make your itinerary
- The Saudis are wooing visitors heading to Qatar for soccer’s World Cup. Some may understandably hesitate to go. But do they judge other countries the same way?
- Discounting everywhere with a questionable rights record would leave a very limited travel itinerary. And remember that travel affords new perspectives
Destinations Known received a couple of emails concerning Saudi Arabia this month. One was from an advisory firm wondering whether we were interested in covering the tourism boost expected from this winter’s Fifa 2022 World Cup, which will take place in neighbouring Qatar.
The other was from a PR company promoting The Rig, a new adventure tourism destination with hotels, restaurants, climbing and scuba diving activities, bungee jumping, and a roller coaster all crammed onto a repurposed Red Sea oil rig.
To potential visitors familiar with the biases of the Western media, mention of Saudi Arabia conjures up the name of Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post journalist who was killed and dismembered in 2018, the brutal war on Yemen and the repression of women, LGBT people, and dissenters within the country.
“Saudi Arabia has an image problem,” as a recent article on the Politico website puts it.
That article focuses on the charm offensive Saudi Arabia, which opened to tourism only in 2019, is pursuing to integrate with the wider world and attract visitors.