Originally Posted by
Asturias56
Saudi isn't a real tourist destination - especially for Brits
Saudia’s presence up the M6 is largely predicated of certain military and defence contracts filling the belly and up front premium seats, with Umrah pilgrims in the back .
They aren’t a connecting hub and spoke operation beyond domestic up the Riyadh and Taif ( the military BAE connection again) right now, through I believe the local travel agents do offer some capacity beyond Jeddah to Pakistan in particular and at some pretty competitive rates ignoring the hassle of transferring.
I very much expect the military/BAE sponsorship would also be at play for operations out of Birmingham.
Now it is known that Saudi are actively promoting the growth of managed tourism in the next few years however what that looks like is a work in progress .
Areas they are looking at are Neom Bay, Haql in particular ( alternative access to the Red Sea for snorkelling and such ) and certain historical sites ( except Medina ) and no doubt that ecological disaster wall/ city thing !