Saudi Arabia welcomes LGBTQ tourists

As part of the social and economic changes Saudi Arabia has made in recent years, LGBTQ tourists are now allowed to visit the kingdom.

According to the Al Monitor portal, the website of the Tourism Authority (STA) of the Arab country, toursaudi.com , has an updated section on its FAQ page that reads: “Are LGBT visitors welcome to visit Saudi Arabia?” And the answer to the question reads: “We don’t ask anyone to reveal personal details and we never have. Everyone is welcome to visit our country.”

However, homosexuality is still illegal in the country, although these laws are not always respected, the portal said.

As in most Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, same-sex relationships are prohibited by law in Saudi Arabia. This is due to the conservative culture and traditional interpretation of Islamic law, Sharia, which prohibits homosexuality. Same-sex relations are punishable by death or flogging in Saudi Arabia.

It is not known exactly when the website was updated. CNN reported that an STA spokesperson said the policy was already in place, but a version archived on the website on March 14, 2023 did not have the question and answer on the page.

Al Monitor points out that Saudi laws against homosexuality are inconsistently applied in the kingdom. “There were no known prosecutions for same-sex conduct during the year,” the US State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report said.

It’s hard to say how repressed the LGBTQ community is in Saudi Arabia, according to the London-based Human Dignity Trust, which tracks anti-LGBTQ laws around the world.

“Social stigma and the absence of LGBT organizations limit reporting of discrimination,” the organization’s page on Saudi Arabia said.

The organization notes that transgender people may also face prosecution in Saudi Arabia, with “substantial evidence of law enforcement” and “consistent reports of discrimination and violence” against LGBTQ people.

Al Monitor notes that the move “is in line with the massive social changes that have taken place in the kingdom in recent years.” For example, in 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on women driving vehicles. However, several female driving rights activists were arrested shortly before the ruling.

In the same year, Saudi Arabia announced that women would no longer be required to wear the abaya, a long garment that covers the body from head to toe. In 2021, Pure Beach opened in Jeddah on the Red Sea, becoming Saudi Arabia’s first beach where women can wear bikinis.

However, some traditional restrictions are still in place in Saudi Arabia, such as the ban on alcohol.

Saudi Arabia is focused on expanding its tourism sector, attracting archeology enthusiasts like AlUla, where ruins have stood untouched for nearly 2,000 years, and creating entirely new towns to lure visitors.

Human rights researcher Nora Noralla told CNN the kingdom is following Qatar and Dubai in their bid to attract LGBTQ+ travellers. But he warned that might not be on travelers’ terms.