Saudi Arabia will welcome foreign tourists back next month, though they will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19.Â
Foreign tourists can return to the Gulf state starting Sunday, but they will need to present proof of vaccination against the coronavirus as well as a negative PCR test. They will not need to quarantine upon arrival, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Friday.Â
Saudi authorities have imposed some particularly strict anti-virus travel measures recently. Earlier this month, the government said Saudi citizens will need to be fully vaccinated in order to leave the country. This week, Riyadh also banned Saudis from traveling to several countries due to virus concerns, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. The UAE and Egypt are notably close allies of Saudi Arabia.Â
The moves come as several Middle Eastern states reimpose restrictions due to the spread of coronavirus variants.Â
Saudi Arabia is currently registering 1,200 COVID-19 cases a day among its population of more than 30 million, according to data from Reuters. More than 53% of the population is at least partially vaccinated against the virus, according to the Oxford University-based Our World in Data.Â
