Saudis see high hopes for 2020 upended by pandemic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — This was supposed to be Saudi Arabia’s year to shine as host of the prestigious G20 gathering of world leaders. The event would have seen Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman share handshakes and wide smiles with presidents and prime ministers.

Instead, the gathering this November will likely be a virtual meet-up, stripping its host of the pomp that would have accompanied televised arrivals on Riyadh's tarmac.

It was also to be another year of sweeping change for Saudi Arabia. The kingdom had only just begun to swing open its doors to tourists and eye-popping concerts when the pandemic struck, spawning social distancing and lockdowns.

“It’s unfortunate, but I think that some of the sectors that Saudi Arabia was most interested in going into are going to be hit hard,” said Bessma Momani, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “If you look at the investment that was being announced and part of the construction effort, a lot of it included theater venues, concert halls... That’s really under risk.”

With Saudi cities under curfew and the country’s borders shut, even the upcoming hajj pilgrimage in Mecca could be cancelled or dramatically pared down. The hajj, which starts in late July this year, has not been cancelled in the 90 years since Saudi Arabia's founding.

The hajj not only provides Saudi Arabia with immense influence and prestige among Muslims, it also generates around $6 billion in revenue for the government annually.

Since early April, Mecca has been under a strict 24-hour curfew. The Grand Mosque there housing the cube-shaped Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, is closed to the public, and the smaller, year-round umrah pilgrimages have been suspended.

The impact of the coronavirus...