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

This picture taken on October 23, 2019 shows a view of car traffic flowing through the Kasr el-Nil bridge across the Nile river in Egyptian capital Cairo's central Zamalek district. (Photo by Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images)

Cairo Eye aims to turn Egypt into global tourism hub

The Egyptian government has laid the foundation stone of a massive project to build the Cairo Eye, the fifth-largest in the world, as part of efforts to boost tourism.

St. George's Orthodox Church, Jenin - West Bank. This church was built on the site where Jesus was said to have cured ten lepers. Is considered as one of the oldest Christian holy places and church in the world.

One of the world’s oldest churches sits in small town in the West Bank

Burqin, a town in the northern West Bank, is home to one of the oldest churches in the world, the Church of the Ten Lepers, where Jesus Christ is said to have performed a miracle of healing lepers who were confined in the church’s cave.

Saudi, Kuwaiti investments boost Cairo, Sphinx airports

Egypt received offers from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to invest in projects to expand the Cairo and Sphinx international airports, as part of efforts to boost tourism and put Egypt on the global transit map.

Israel issues travel warning involving several Middle Eastern states

The Israeli government wants Israelis to avoid travel to the UAE, Turkey and other countries following the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

Oman to issue tourist visas after 8-month suspension

Travelers whose trips are organized through hotels or tourism companies can apply for visas.

Egyptians await procession of royal mummies to their new home

Some 22 royal mummies will be transported in a major royal procession from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

Egyptian dancers perform the Tanoura during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at el-Ghuri culture Palace in Cairo on May 22, 2018. (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cairo to turn 15th century sultan's caravansary into heritage hotel to boost tourism

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Oct. 24 that it will convert the 15th century Wakala al-Sultan Qaytbay into a heritage hotel after its restoration.

This picture taken on March 9, 2020 shows a view of the "A Sara" Nile cruise ship moored off the river bank of Egypt's southern city of Luxor, where 45 suspected COVID-19 coronavirus disease cases were detected and evacuated two days prior. - Egypt on March 8 reported the country's -- and Africa's -- first fatality from the virus, a 60-year-old German tourist who died in a Red Sea resort in eastern Egypt. The following day, Egypt's health ministry said the total number of known cases had risen to 55. Scores

Nile cruises navigate river of challenges

Following a monthslong hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, cruises on the Nile River have resumed, despite some challenges to the tourism sector in Egypt.

A row of sphinxes at the Ancient Egyptian Luxor Temple complex, during an archaeological dig on the east bank of the Nile, Egypt, circa 1955. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Egypt reviving Luxor's Grand Avenue of Sphinxes

Egypt is moving ahead with the restoration of the Grand Avenue of Sphinxes, which experts say will be a great cultural achievement for Egypt and an exquisite addition to the study of the ancient Egyptian civilization.

A Bedouin man runs with his camel as he prepares it to take part in a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert on September 12, 2020, after more than six month of hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. - Camel racing is a traditional sport in many Arab countries, most notably in the Gulf region, and in Egypt, bedouins of the South Sinai desert have kept up the tradition. But race events have been suspended since March following the COVID-19 outbreak, and orders only came down at the beginning of the month that t

Bedouins in Egypt retreat to more traditional way of life to face COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bedouin community in Egypt, mainly in southern Sinai, that heavily relied on tourism to make ends meet, is retreating deep into the mountains and the desert to live a more traditional life.

Tourists sunbathe by the pool of the Al Naseem hotel in the Gulf emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, on July 7, 2020. - With a "welcome" passport sticker and coronavirus tests on arrival, Dubai reopens its doors to international visitors in the hope of reviving its tourism industry after a nearly four-month closure. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Hotels in the Emirates explore turning kitchens kosher

Israeli business people are already in contact with hotels at the United Arab Emirates, who wish to accommodate their kitchens to the Israeli tourists.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken on October 21, 2017, shows the highway passing through the New Alamein City, situated about 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of the northern city of Alexandria. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

World War II site becomes promising tourist destination in Egypt

As part of the government’s plan to redistribute Egypt’s growing population, a project to turn a World War II site into a resort that also includes residential units is currently underway in north Egypt.