The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has started issuing group visas.  Procedures are in place to issue group visas for citizens of up to 65 non-Arab countries.  Director General of the license department at SCTA said the group visa will be issued to a minimum of a group of four tourists.  Ahmad Al Eisa said that it is very easy for any group intending to visit to obtain the visas from Saudi embassies and consulates in those 65 countries.  He said some Arab countries will be included on the list of countries allowed group visas.

Al Eisa said the SCTA is working hard to increase its revenues from both the domestic and foreign tourism sectors in order to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).  He said the number of tourists visiting last summer increased to about 3.9 million, and they spent at least 1.2 billion Saudi riyals.