'Tourism Prosecution Units': Saudi Arabia comes up with comprehensive plan to facilitate visitors

RIYADH - In order to complete the procedures of tourists' and visitors’ cases within a short time, authorities in Saudi Arabia have created a new specialized wing for tourism at the headquarters of the Public Prosecution.

In this regard, Attorney General and Chairman of the Public Prosecution Council Sheikh Saud Al-Mujab has issued a decision to establish specialized units of Tourism Prosecution at international and regional airports in the Kingdom to dispense justice in line with the tourism goals.

The tourism prosecution will be directly linked to the Public Prosecutor and would take all legal procedures and measures and disposes of the cases in accordance with the system.

To facilitate the tourists, it has also been announced that the units will operate round the clock to ensure that tourists enjoy their rights and guarantees assigned to them.

A cadre of qualified members of the Public Prosecution and their assistants who have been trained and equipped with the necessary skills will work in the new units, Saudi Gazette reported.

The government of Saudi Arabia under the command of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman is taking measures to promote tourism and shift the revenue source of the kingdom away from oil.

The government believes that the country could open up to tourists and could generate billions of Dollars to shore up its reserves. The ambitious Crown Prince has also envisioned the Neom city to attract businessmen and globetrotters so that the depleting oil reserves of the country could not pose a threat to the economic stability of the kingdom and other revenue streams are available in the long run.

Besides tourism, the government is also facilitating the pilgrims who land in the kingdom for Hajj and Umrah and for this purpose, the authorities are revamping the visa processing through digitalization so that pilgrims can get permits through a few swipes.