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

Sharm el-Sheikh prepares for antiquities museum opening

Egypt is getting ready to open the first antiquities museum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh later this year, in the hope of boosting the tourism sector that has been badly affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

A closed souvenir shop in front of the treasury site in the ancient city of Petra is seen empty of tourists after the government closed all tourist facilities in the country amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Jordan June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RC2V1H9EE04C

Jordan further eases restrictions after continued success against virus

Jordan has had relatively few confirmed COVID-19 cases.

A waiter wearing a protective face mask serves customers in a coffee shop, with the Acropolis hill in the background, as restaurants reopen following the easing of measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece May 25, 2020. REUTERS/Costas Baltas - RC2NVG9ZZ8UZ

Greece to allow tourists from Israel, Lebanon

The European country will open up for tourists from Israel, Lebanon and several other European countries in June.

Tourists wearing face masks sit and stand on Galata bridge in Istanbul, on March 13, 2020, amid the outbreak of COVID-19, the new coronavirus. - Turkey said on March 12 it would shut all schools for two weeks and bar spectators from football matches through April after recording its first case of the new coronavirus. The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has risen to 5,043, according to an AFP tally based on official sources at 1100 GMT on March 13. Since COVID-19 was first detected in December 2019,

Intel: Turkey's tourism sector sets hopes on June kick start

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's announcement that the government aims to relax COVID-19 restrictions and start returning to normal life at the end of Ramadan has raised the hopes of the country’s ailing tourism sector.

Virtual tours bring Egypt's museums, archaeological sites online

Cairo had hoped that 2020 would be a golden year for Egyptian tourism, but the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the industry.

March 27 Israeli Ambassador to Costa Rica Amir Ofek.jpg

Foreign Ministry rescues Israelis stranded abroad during pandemic

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, after being sidelined for years by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sees its vital role recognized as diplomats bring back young Israelis stranded abroad during the coronavirus crisis.

Coronavirus robs Bethlehem of Easter festivities

Easter, along with Chrismas, has been a high point for tourism in Bethlehem, the birthpace of Jesus, but alas, not this year.

Coronavirus cripples Egypt’s tourism industry

Some analysts fear long-term effects on Egypt’s tourism sector from the coronavirus outbreak.

A passenger wears a protective mask at Cairo International Airport, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - RC2ZGF9LL3SF

Egypt suspending all flights amid coronavirus spread

As the number of Egypt's COVID-19 cases rise to 150, Cairo says that all flights will be suspended for nearly two weeks and that tourism sites will be thoroughly sanitized.

A guide sits on a stone as he looks at the Djoser's step pyramid in Saqqara, outside of Cairo March 5, 2011. Sites around the great pyramid at Giza, a Wonder of the Ancient World, the Sphinx and the cemetery at Sakkara have been nearly empty of tourists since a revolt started a month ago that ousted Hosni Mubarak and now Egypt wants visitors to return. REUTERS/Peter Andrews (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TRAVEL SOCIETY) - GM1E7351JOK01

Tourists stay away as Egypt reopens oldest pyramid

Egypt has finally reopened its oldest pyramid after 14 years of restoration work, but the timing could have been better.

Police officers are pictured at the site of a suicide attack near the U.S. embassy in Tunis, Tunisia March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RC2FEF9ZC9G8

Intel: Suicide bombing strikes near US Embassy in Tunisia

Two suicide bombers on a motorcycle blow themselves up near the US Embassy in Tunis, killing a police officer.

Saudi travel ban slams Egypt's religious tourism industry

Seeking to curb the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus, Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended tourism to its holy sites to the detriment of Egypt's travel industry as the pilgrimage season approaches.