Saudi Red Sea Authority issues 12 licenses to enhance coastal tourism sector

The Saudi Red Sea Authority has issued 12 new licenses, most notably licenses for tourist shipping agents and operators of tourist marinas, licenses for building a tourist marina, and operators of tourist cruise ships. It has also issued a number of technical licenses for “recreational tourism” for marine vehicles and other licenses that support the practice of the activity, as part of the Authority’s ongoing efforts to raise the level of maturity of the coastal tourism sector.

The list of new licenses issued by the Authority during the past two months included a license for a tourist navigation agent for the Amaq Al-Bahr Maritime Transport Agency Company, and 3 licenses for operators of tourist marinas for each of the Sindalah Marina in Neom, the Dolphin Beach Resort for tourist accommodation in Yanbu, and the Jeddah Municipality Marina in Jeddah, in addition to issuing a license to build a tourist marina for the Sindalah Island Marina in Neom, a license for a cruise ship operator for the Red Sea Cruise Company (Saudi Cruise), a cruise ship itinerary license, and 5 technical licenses (tourism and entertainment), 4 of which are for yacht companies, and one license for Aroua Cruise Limited.

This step comes within the context of the Authority’s efforts to implement its main tasks, including issuing the necessary licenses and permits to regulate navigational and marine tourism activities, setting controls, rules and standards for tourist marinas and developing them, and promoting coastal tourism activities to attract tourists, practitioners and investors, in an effort to achieve the Authority’s goals of building and developing a promising coastal tourism sector.

The licenses issued by the Authority enhance coastal tourism activities by creating an attractive coastal environment that contributes to encouraging investments and attracting tourists to coastal tourist destinations in the Red Sea, which encourages the growth of coastal tourism activities and effectively affects the support and strengthening of the national economy. It is worth noting that the licenses issued by the Authority represent a qualitative shift in the development of coastal tourism in the Kingdom and attracting investments and investors, and reflect the Authority’s commitment to regulating navigational and marine tourism activities, with the aim of providing a suitable and safe environment for tourists in the Red Sea, and enhancing its position as a leading global tourist destination.