Houthi strikes have cut Riyadh off from scheduled flights and pushed the kingdom’s events season into 2027. The longer the closure lasts, the harder it gets for Saudi Arabia to sell itself as a reliable host for business tourism.
Almost all corporate travel to Saudi Arabia has been paused as attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militia continue, travel industry executives say.
With few airlines still flying in and out of the kingdom, many stranded visitors are driving to neighboring Gulf countries to catch onward flights.
“There is no new travel being initiated to the kingdom and everything is on hold,” Subair Thekepurathvalappil, senior manager at UAE-based travel agency Wise Fox Tourism, told Skift. “Those who have gone to the kingdom are trying to return to the UAE by traveling to neighboring Bahrain by road and flying back from there.
The majority of visitors going to perform the Islamic pilgrimage of Umrah at Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia are avoiding flights and going by road instead, he added.