Saudi Arabia will issue a dedicated visa for exhibitors and visitors to the World Expo to be held in Riyadh in 2030.
The Royal Commission for Riyadh City has revealed that the visa will allow those attending the expo, “seamless entry from plane, to metro, to expo site”.
This is part of a larger trend in the Middle East, and it follows Qatar’s successful launch of the Hayya card, which was implemented for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and facilitated over a million visitors.
The dedicated visa is one of several projects Saudi Arabia has launched in anticipation of Expo 2030 Riyadh. The city also announced that it would add 70 000 new hotel rooms to accommodate the influx of tourists as part of its preparation.
As the host city of the global exhibition, Riyadh will be transformed into a 6,6-sq km exhibition plaza. The World Expo has been compared to the Olympics in terms of tourism numbers, and Expo 2030 Riyadh expects 100 million visitors.
