Much of the development comes at the urging of the Saudi government, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which aims to turn AlUla into one of the kingdom’s go-to tourism destinations as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program. Though the country only just began issuing tourist visas in 2019, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a massive campaign to make tourism a key part of its future economy. As The New York Times reported in late 2019, “billions of dollars are being poured into vast tourism projects throughout the kingdom, from flashy resorts to new airports, in a bid to shift the economy away from its dependence on the petroleum industry and the government jobs it finances.”
