Tourism

The entrance to the city of Qiddiya, south of the capital Riyadh, April 25, 2019.

Analysis

Iran war tests Gulf's theme park ambitions

Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with multibillion-dollar projects as the conflict disrupts regional tourism and exposes weaknesses in the Gulf states' entertainment strategies.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

The 26-feet-tall statues of the ancient Egyptian King Amenhotep III (1391-53 BC), father of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and probably grandfather of Tutankhamun, and his consort queen, Tiye, at the Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square, Cairo, June 11, 2025.

Culture

Beyond King Tut: Cairo’s Egyptian Museum looks to reinvent itself

With Cairo's Egyptian Museum approaching its 125th anniversary, efforts are underway to reposition it on the cultural map in light of competition from newer, glitzier museums.

Building construction at the Red Sea in Egypt.

Explainer

UAE-Egypt ties keep growing as Cairo navigates shifting Gulf landscape

An Emirati investor could soon strike a $2.7 billion deal to develop another tourism project on Egypt's North Coast, the latest in a string of UAE-linked pacts that have continued advancing despite turmoil from the US-Iran war.

Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, gives a press conference in the Saqqara necropolis, where archaeologists unearthed two human and animal embalming workshops as well as two tombs, south of Cairo, on May 27, 2023.

Culture

Saqqara’s next chapter: How Egypt is modernizing its oldest necropolis

Egypt has launched a major project to develop access to the Saqqara archaeological sites, which — according to archeologists — hold some of Egypt’s most important ancient sites spanning across multiple civilizations.

Latest News

Explainer

Saudi airlines outbuy Gulf rivals at Farnborough air show: What to know

Spectators look on as an A350-1000 by the European plane maker Airbus takes off on the second day of the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, Farnborough, July 21, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Syria arrivals surge 111% as government bets on tourism revival

Tourism students and visitors visit the ruins of the ancient city of Apamea in the Hama countryside, Syria, on July 8, 2026.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

A large mosaic is pictured at the archaeological site of the Saint Hilarion Monastery, one of the largest Christian monasteries in the Middle East, in Tell Umm al-Amr close to Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, March 19, 2013.

Domestic tourism thrives in Gaza

Local travel companies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, are organizing trips for Gazans to discover the many hidden archaeological sites spread across the besieged enclave.

ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP via Getty Images

Wildfires deliver blow to tourism in Turkey

Ankara has announced that all but two wildfires are under control and is busily reassuring tourists it's safe to return.

Saudi proof of vaccination required

Saudi Arabia to require vaccination proof for foreign tourists

Saudi Arabia has imposed some particularly strict travel measures recently amid regional concerns about coronavirus variants.

A picture taken on April 24, 2020, shows the Blue Mosque square with the Hagia Sophia museum in the background.

Secular Turks mock government’s appropriation of care-free lifestyles in Istanbul promo video

The negative responses highlight what secular members of Turkish society perceive as the government’s interference in their lifestyle choices.

Ukrainian tourisms in Bodrum

Turkey’s COVID-19 cases surge as restrictions relaxed during Eid

As holiday-makers flock to Turkey’s coastal areas and cast aside masks and social distancing, a surge in COVID-19 figures fans worries in the health sector of a fourth coronavirus wave, possibly as early as August.

This picture taken on July 8, 2020, shows an aerial view of Emirates aircraft parked on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport.

Saudi Arabia’s race for Gulf economic leadership takes to the sky

The kingdom diversification plan goes head-to-head with flag carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways, as intra-Gulf economic rivalries heat up on all fronts.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Jordan prices entice Israeli vacationers

High prices in Israeli hotels might drive locals to prefer trips to Jordan or Egypt as international travel cautiously resumes.

A boy receives a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Clalit Healthcare Services in the Israeli city of Holon near Tel Aviv on June 21, 2021.

Israel records highest daily coronavirus cases in three months

The number of COVID-19 infections in Israel, which includes those of the delta variant, is still relatively low in the country.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia plans second national airline in tourism push

The additional airline would help position the Gulf state as a global logistics hub, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said.

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Abu Dhabi offers tourists free coronavirus vaccines

The capital of the United Arab Emirates is also set to remove quarantine requirements on travelers from certain countries deemed low-risk.

United Arab Emirates

Boxes of coronavirus vaccines are stacked on the tarmac after the first batch arrived at Khartoum airport on an Emirates flight, Sudan, March 3, 2121.

Emirates loses more than $5 billion in 2020

The Dubai-based airline's financial struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic has led to job cuts and a massive cash injection from the government.

Tourists visit the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque, also known as the Pink Mosque, in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz on Sept. 27, 2018.

Iran and Russia sign visa waiver agreement

The deal focuses on making it easier for large tourist groups to travel to Iran and Russia.