Crown Prince Mohammad bin Sulman last week entered into an agreement with the French government to cooperate on the development of a multi-billion-dollar tourism project that will portray the history of Saudi Arabia over a site the size of Belgium. It's hoped the attraction will draw up to 2.5M tourists annually.

France has strong trade ties of long standing with Saudi Arabia, but the relationship has been strained recently over Iran and other issues.

The initiative is part of a plan for the Saudi kingdom to diversify economically away from oil, and to open up its history and culture to the West.

The kingdom began issuing its first tourist passports only 1 April 2018.