What it’s like to be a female tour guide in Saudi Arabia
Fatimah Al Zimam likes to walk around in black leggings and casual tops, and she wears her curly hair loose and uncovered. She owns a silver GMC pickup truck, which she enjoys driving solo across the Saudi desert. And she is passionate about her job: as a tour guide, she has introduced her country to visitors from the United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, China and beyond.
Ms. Al Zimam, 34, is a Saudi woman and works for herself. She represents a profound transformation underway in her home country, which has long been known as a very conservative place. Saudi Arabia’s opening to non-religious tourists in 2019 is a key part of the ongoing shift, as are several key benefits women have received over the past five years, though some restrictions remain.
But even with the recent changes, the country remains under fire for its human rights record, which may worry potential visitors. One travel index has ranked Saudi Arabia is second to last in the world in safety for LGBTQ travelers.
But Saudi Arabia is strongly committed to attracting tourists: the government is investing $1 trillion in the industry more than 10 years, aiming to attract 100 million visitors annually by 2030. It’s all part of an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
“If there is no oil, we have nothing. So there are now many projects to promote agriculture, solar energy production and also tourism,” said Ms. Al Zimam.
I first met Ms. Al Zimam on a recent solo trip to Saudi Arabia, when I hired her as my guide in Riyadh, the capital, and spent a day in her pickup truck with a shotgun. A few weeks later, I reached her via video call at her apartment in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. She was eager to tell me about her favorite places to receive new visitors and how Saudi men react when they see her without a long robe or abaya.
Our conversation has been edited and shortened for clarity.
What kind of reaction have you seen among Saudis since the country started issuing standard tourist visas?
The vast majority of people in Saudi Arabia are very generous with tourists. I’ve seen this even in remote villages, where people are often very religious – they really help tourists, especially hitchhikers and cyclists who sometimes just pop up out of nowhere.
And look at a place like Al Ula, in the northwest, where you see so many tourists now. At first some local people might have been skeptical about the crowds, the noise, the visitors. But then they started to see the jobs, the money, the extra work they could find through tourism – they realized the opportunities. Now they are very happy with tourism.
The government has spent a lot of money to turn the old city of Al Ula into a tourist destination. Is that a place you would recommend to visitors?
Al Ula is the best destination in the world for me. The Royal Commission has done a great job developing the sites around there, and they are still doing excavations and finding new things. Visitors love the ancient tombs at Mada’in Saleh, which is nearby. There’s so much different. Al Ula is full of rock inscriptions. Wherever you walk, you will find them.
And I like to bring people to Hail, also in the north. Hail is a historic area – Lawrence of Arabia spent a lot of time there – and the scenery is stunning. The sand dunes, the red mountains and just the beautiful shapes of the rocks and rock inscriptions. You can drive and drive, and then suddenly you come across a small oasis, a clump of palms between the mountains.
Are there many other female tour guides in Saudi Arabia?
There are many female tour guides, and even more in training. In the class I took to become a licensed guide, there were twice as many women as men, and I think that’s pretty normal.
Many potential female visitors may have questions about how to dress in Saudi Arabia. I know you don’t wear a headscarf or a headscarf abaya. Did you stop doing that so quickly? the rule changed a few years ago?
It was gradual for me. At first I still wore an abaya and hijab in the city, but not when I was in the desert or in the mountains. But then I moved to Riyadh for work and I found myself more comfortable and happier without an abaya as long as I was modestly dressed. Now I don’t wear an abaya or hijab. The only exceptions are when I go to an official place – the courthouse or a police station – or when I go to a mosque. When I go to pray, I need a shawl.
Some people might stare because it’s still something new to see, but they respect my choice. I once had an Uber driver in Al Jouf say to me, “Look at me, with my beard and mustache. I am a man, but I am married to the woman my mother chose for me. But look at you, without an abaya: you are a woman and you have made your choice. You’re braver than I am.’
What do you advise female visitors to dress?
Some Saudis will recommend that female visitors wear a scarf. But why? It’s okay not to. In the countryside they might stare at you, but I find that even there most people are hospitable. And the people who are not welcome say nothing because there is no line left. I always feel safe, even if I travel alone and without an abaya. Come, I will take you to the Red Sea, and you will see – there you can wear a bikini. The only exception is if you visit a mosque. There it is obligatory to cover your legs, and for women it is obligatory to wear long sleeves and a scarf.
What do you like to do when you don’t give tours?
I love to travel in Saudi Arabia, and I did it even before I started working as a tour guide. I am also a rock climber since 2019, and I love going there tanomawhere I first learned to climb.
I know it hasn’t been that long since Saudi women got the right to drive. What do people think when they see you behind the wheel of your truck?
I have to admit I love the reactions of people watching me ride. Sometimes people follow me in the countryside just because they are curious. ‘Is this really a woman? Isn’t it just a guy with curly hair?” But then they see that I am a woman and they call me: ‘My daughter! My daughter!” And they ask if I’m a tourist.
Have you ever traveled outside your home country?
I have traveled around the Gulf and to Jordan but my first time outside the Middle East was last year when I went to the UK and then Switzerland with the Ministry of Tourism. During that trip we spent a week at a tourism school in Montreux. The ministry sent thousands of people to the best tourism schools in Europe. I was in the last group.
What’s your next gig?
Summer is the low season for tourists here. So I’m working on my book, which is both a memoir and a travel guide to Saudi Arabia. I plan to publish travel secrets about places all over the country. I’ve got it all in my head, and now I’m going to write it down.
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