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 July 1, 2020 shows a general view of (R to L) the Great Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren), and the Pyramid of Menkaure (Menkheres) at the Giza Pyramids necropolis on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, as the archaeological site reopens while the country eases restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - A spree of openings in Egypt comes after the country officially ended a three-month nighttime curfew a fe

Egypt upgrades Giza Plateau to attract tourists back to Pyramids

The Egyptian authorities are advancing their plans to develop the Giza Plateau, where the Pyramids are located, as part of efforts to boost tourism.

ANTALYA, TURKEY - JULY 12: Tourists take part in an aqua aerobics session at an all inclusive Russian themed resort on July 12, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month officially lifted travel restrictions on tourism to Turkey. Russia had banned agency tours to Turkey after a diplomatic crisis erupted when Turkey downed a Russian jet on the Turkey - Syrian border in November 2015. Turkey's tourism is currently in crisis after a series of terrorist attacks, most recently the bom

Turkey’s 'healthy tourism' efforts tested as foreign tourists trickle in

Some 40,000 Russian holidaymakers have thrown a life jacket to Turkey’s main touristic hub of Antalya, while other coastal areas count on locals to keep afloat.

A group of tourists walk past Hagia Sophia as they go toward the historical Sultanahmet district on July 28, 2020 in Istanbul. - The Council of State, the highest administrative court, on July 10, 2020 unanimously cancelled a 1934 decision by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to turn it into a museum, saying it was registered as a mosque in its property deeds. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Coronavirus not stopping flow of Israeli tourists to Turkey

Even before the coronavirus pandemic there was a significant increase in the number of Israelis visiting Turkey, and it seems that the trend continues despite the virus outbreak.

How Tunisia's impoverished southeast remained COVID-19 free

While the isolation and lack of resources may have played a part in keeping cases of the coronavirus from appearing, they've also kept the region's economy in a state of crisis.

Jordan gearing up to reopen kingdom to tourism

The government is hoping to reopen the country for medical tourism amidst growing fears of a second wave and skepticism about the health protocols that will be adopted.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 02: Tourists visit Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia on July 02, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's Council of State will begin a review today of the building's status and the possibility of changing it from a museum, back into a mosque upon the request of nationalist and religious groups. Throughout it's history the UNESCO World Heritage site has served as a Byzantine Cathedral, a mosque under Ottoman rule and now a museum, after a 1934 decision led by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa K

Britain extends lifeline to Turkish tourism by lifting quarantine rule

Turkey hopes visitors from the United Kingdom will help offset the deep losses its coronavirus-hit tourism industry is expected to suffer this summer season and is pushing the European Union to reconsider its "safe list" that excluded the Mediterranean destination.

Women wearing protective masks walk at the promenade of Dubai Marina on May 5, 2020, after authorities of the United Arab Emirates started to ease a national lockdown put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. - In Dubai's ritzy Marina district, white yachts are tethered to docks, standing idle -- like many companies behind a luxury lifestyle industry battered by the coronavirus crisis. The boardwalks that snake around the precinct's artificial bays and canals, once packed with tourists, mostl

Dubai welcomes back tourists

The Emirati city wants visitors to come back as the country emerges from its coronavirus closures.

This picture taken on June 20, 2020 shows a view of an EgyptAir Airbus A320neo aircraft on the tarmac at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, in the Red Sea resort city at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Did Egypt move too fast to receive tourists in light of COVID-19?

Egypt received tourists from Ukraine as the country resumed tourism and airports opened up amid strict precautionary and preventive measures.

Egypt resumes international flights, reopens pyramids for summer tourism

More than three months after Egypt closed its major tourist attractions, two flights from Ukraine arrive in Red Sea and South Sinai governorates.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issue joint statements in Jerusalem, June 16, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2BAH9GJTED

Israel, Greek prime ministers showcase bilateral alliance

The visit in Israel of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reflects a growing convergence of interests between the two countries.

An EgyptAir plane lands on the runway of the Capital International Airport, a new airport built for Egypt's new capital, known as the New Administrative Capital (NAC), east of Cairo, Egypt July 9, 2019. Picture taken July 9, 2019. REUTERS/Hayam Adel - RC15C51DE710

Egypt to gradually resume international flights

Foreign tourists will also be allowed to travel to three coastal provinces as airports reopen to international travel beginning July 1.

Egypt to allow foreign tourists at select resorts

Egypt will open resorts in the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea to foreign travelers in July in an effort to boost tourism during the coronavirus pandemic.