Travel
Saudi Arabia Drops Dress Code for Foreign Women in Tourism Push
- Foreign women won’t have to wear abayas in big social shift
- Applications for kingdom’s first tourist visas open Saturday
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Saudi Arabia will drop its strict dress code for foreign women as it seeks for the first time to lure holidaymakers and the spending that could help develop the kingdom’s economy away from its reliance on oil.
Foreign women won’t have to wear an abaya, the flowing cloak that’s been mandatory attire for decades, though they’ll be instructed to wear “modest clothing,” said Ahmed Al-Khateeb, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and a key adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.