Will Saudi Arabia's tourism push lead to 'sea of change' for safety, transport, women's rights?

Strolling through the mud walls and palaces at At-Turaif, one of Saudi Arabia's most notable heritage sites on the outskirts of Riyadh, I was surprised there were few tourists in sight.

Beryl, a Canadian woman in her 70s, was one of the handful of visitors at the heart of the recently renovated Unesco site, regarded as the birthplace of the modern Saudi state founded in 1727.

"I quite enjoy the peace here. Outside this historical site, there are bustling cranes everywhere," said Beryl, who was on the first day of a two-week tour in the kingdom.

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Walking with me along well-paved red streets under the scorching sun, Beryl said she was drawn to Saudi Arabia after being impressed by the sleek Saudi Pavilion at last year's World Expo in Dubai, which displayed videos about archaeological treasures.

I was in Riyadh to cover Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee's visit to the Middle East last month, as he sought to forge closer economic ties with the Gulf states.

During my three-day stay, a large-scale exhibition of futuristic city designs and a technology conference were among the hot topics of talks in the capital.

I could sense the special appeal the kingdom could offer for tourists as a travel destination, at a time when the world's biggest oil exporter is undergoing some of the most sweeping changes - socially and economically - in decades.

Oil-rich Riyadh is seeking to diversify its economic sources and tourism is a major part of the plan, with officials hoping to lure 100 million visitors annually by 2030. Mega initiatives such as Vision 2030 aim to use tourism to help create a vibrant Saudi society and enrich visitors' experiences in the kingdom.

Since the kingdom opened its doors to non-religious travellers in 2019, it has issued 1.3 million tourist visas as of October 2022.

Saudi Arabia has its work cut out. While tourism is growing, many visitors experience frustration when moving around Riyadh, a capital that has limited road-crossing facilities and heavily relies on private cars and ride-hailing.

I stayed in a hotel near the King Abdullah financial district, a mere 400 metres away from another hotel where a business forum was held. However, I found no bridge to cross the highway to reach the venue on foot. A 15-minute Uber ride was the only way to take me there via a roundabout miles away.

There are few public bus services in Riyadh, while its first metro is set to open later this year. The limited public transport network means visitors are often caught up in traffic congestion during mega events.

The annual four-day flagship LEAP Tech conference, held in the heart of the capital, sought to showcase the kingdom's ambitions in innovation and technology to 172,000 attendees as reported by the organiser.

After I spent a morning on the conference's inaugural day attending seminars and visiting booths at Riyadh Front Expo Centre, the kingdom's largest venue for exhibitions near the King Khalid International Airport, I found myself struggling to leave the site with thousands of entrepreneurs, students and tourists.

With ride-hailing services paralysed amid the demand surge, a large crowd was trapped outside the venue surrounded by lines of private vehicles that clogged the multi-lane roads.

After a 45-minute wait, I finally managed to hop onto a golf cart deployed by the organiser to get to a nearby car park where a minivan from a ride-sharing service could come close to pick me up to head to the airport.

For Hongkongers, the kingdom that covers most of the Arabian peninsula is mostly an off-the-beaten-track destination, partly because of its conservative image and appalling record on women's rights.

As Saudi Arabia rebrands itself as a tourist destination, it has allowed women of different nationalities to travel alone and commute without needing a permit. Still, travellers are advised to "dress modestly" with the country's cultural norms in mind.

The death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 - in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul - is also likely to be top of visitors' minds at the mention of Saudi Arabia. An unclassified United States intelligence report accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of having ordered Khashoggi's assassination.

Beheading is still a main method of execution, and at least 147 people faced the death penalty last year, according to a human rights group. An American woman who was detained in Saudi Arabia after posting on Twitter about being trapped there since 2019 was recently released, but is still under a travel ban.

That has not stopped Saudi Arabia from introducing sweeping changes to help improve women's rights in the country. Since 2019, women have been allowed to drive, register the birth of a baby and travel abroad without the permission of a male guardian.

The kingdom is predicted to be the world's fastest-growing major economy this year, with an expected 7.6 per cent growth, according to data by the International Monetary Fund.

At the golden-walled Digital City, where offices for the government and start-ups are located, Weijan Aloufi shared how she felt empowered as a woman employee who did statistics and data analysis for the Ministry of Health.

"There was no equality in the past. The top hierarchy was not for women. We just work in the middle," said Aloufi, who completed a university degree in Britain.

In the past, an unwritten ceiling for monthly wage for a female professional was around 10,000 riyals (US$2,660), she said. Now, men and women are paid equally and there are more women than men in her workplace, she added.

The kingdom has set an ambitious goal to send tens of thousands of students for further studies abroad via sponsorship schemes.

Mohammad Alho is one of them. Born in Medina, a holy city in Islam, he moved to Riyadh for high school before pursuing university in Pennsylvania. He returned to Saudi Arabia five years ago and is now working for a cybersecurity company in Digital City.

He pointed to the large square between the high-rise buildings and told me: "You see the people with different ethnicities working and visiting here? This is something I couldn't imagine a few years ago.

"Every single day, I can see a sea of changes."

Natalie Wong is a Post reporter covering Hong Kong politics, Hong Kong-mainland issues and social policies.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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