I don’t know whether it was intentional but a paper I read in Bahrain reported two different stories about Saudi Arabia on the same page.
The first described the Kingdom’s desire to open up to tourism for a much needed boost to the economy.
Next to this story was a report on the decision to not allow families to attend the Janadriyah National Festival for Heritage and Culture. This is one of the most important cultural festivals in the Middle East but men and women will have to attend on different days to ensure that there are no "moral violations."
This begs the question: Which tourists does KSA want to attract? Single men? Or men with their families? Apart from pilgrims, who is expected to want to visit?
You cannot have stability without money. If nothing changes here what will happen when all the oil is gone? As my father-in-law likes to say "you can't live off love and fresh air."
Heeeyyy - my grandmother used to say that too! :)
ReplyDeleteTourism in KSA, your kidding right?
ReplyDeleteHmmm honey, would like to visit hell on earth for our annual vacation?
I don't know why they even discuss encouraging tourism when they are not willing to address the issues that prevent it!
Economy rules. This had been a fact for most of the world. The other fact is: some societies are simply crisis-driven. So, until the wells and money go squealing, things will remain the same. Meaning, conservatives and fundemntalists leaning back on their seats, and chewing on Miswak, will have no problem reciting all the old texts, line by line, not with the slightest word out of place (not even time span!) Singles will suffer because of the married, and the married shall suffer from the ghosts of the singles. And.......
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