Saudi sites on hold

This item appears on page 4 of the June 2018 issue.

To preserve three culturally significant historical sites in the Al-’Ula region of northern Saudi Arabia, they will be closed to visitors until 2020 while an archaeological survey is conducted. The sites are the ancient Nabatean city of Mada’in Salih (Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site), Al-Khuraybah (aka Dadan) and Jabal 'Ikmah.

In addition, on April 1 Saudi Arabia began offering tourist visas for the first time since 2010.