SAUDI Arabia was very much in the news this weekend. It announced that it was offering tourist visas for the first time, beginning a program of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to open the country to more foreign visitors after centuries of comparative isolation due to its ultra-conservative way of life. As site of Islam’s most revered shrines in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia is visited by millions of Muslim from around the world for the annual hajj, including thousands of Filipino Muslims from Mindanao. But these foreign visitors go there solely for religious reasons; the hajj is required of every Muslim to accomplish a least once in a lifetime.
Now Saudi Arabia is opening to people from 49 countries around the world – not just Muslims – and to several new sites. “Visitors will be surprised by the treasures we have to share – five UNESCO World Heritage sites, a vibrant local culture, and breathtaking natural beauty,” Saudi tourism chief Ahmed al-Khateeb said.
As part of its new tourism program, Saudi Arabia will ease its strict dress code for women. Visitors will not be required to wear abaya robes shrouding the entire body that is mandatory public wear for Saudi women. But they will be required to wear “modest clothing.”
The goal of the new tourism program is to diversify the country’s economy away from its present ultra-dependence on oil. Saudi Arabia today is the world’s top oil exporter; the Philippines imports a third of its total oil needs from it.
This dependence came into sharp focus last September 14 when a drone attack – believed inspired by Iran – cut Saudi oil production by half. The attack sent oil prices rising in nations around the world as they faced the prospect of loss of adequate supplies for their industries.
Within days after the attack, the prices of benchmark Dubai Crude rose to $67.55 on September 17. Pump prices in Philippine gasoline stations responded, rising by R2.35 per liter of gasoline and by P1.80 per liter of diesel. Anytime fuel prices rise, they are inevitably followed by market price increases, as in the inflation crisis we underwent in 2018.
Last Saturday, however – and this is the second big reason Saudi Arabia was in the news his weekend – the Saudi government announced to a relieved world that it had quickly repaired the damage from the drone attacks and would be back to normal production before the end of this month. Our local oil firms responded with the announcement of a significant rollback by R1.60 per liter this week.
There are today some 2.3 million Overseas Filipino Workers in Saudi Arabia. Many of them are doctors and nurses, engineers and other oil production workers, construction, telecom, and transportation workers. As Saudi Arabia ventures into tourism, it may find that Filipinos are also among the world’s leading workers in this field of tourism and services.
