Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) refused to issue entry visas to an Israeli delegation to participate in the conference of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Israeli media reported on Sunday evening.
Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan 11 stated that the Israeli delegation had received an invitation to participate in the conference, which started on Sunday, in Saudi Arabia.
It added that the Israeli side was interested in attending the conference, whose visit would have been “a rare visit by an official Israeli delegation to Saudi Arabia.”
According to Bloomberg, the Saudi authorities refused to issue visas for the Israeli delegation, without disclosing the reasons, despite the United Nations’ request to Riyadh, for equal treatment for all members of the organization.
On Sunday, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) conference was launched in the city of Al-Ula, northwest of Saudi Arabia, and it will last for two days, around 32 tourist villages in 18 countries, which are included in the organization’s classification of best villages in the world.
The delegation was representing the Circassian town of Kfar Kama in the Galilee region of northern Israel, which was among 32 sites chosen by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the best rural tourism destinations for this year.