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Saudi Arabia is hoping to attract more foreign tourists to the country as it relaxes its rules on visas.

The country, which is the birthplace of Islam and home to the holy city of Makkah, has allowed tourism officials in the country to hand out visas to those who wish to visit.

Previously, only those with a Saudi resident willing to sponsor them would be granted entry.

Although the country's Supreme Commission of Tourism (SCT) is relaxing the rules, it maintains that the majority of traditional restrictions will remain in place.

This means alcohol will still not be sold in the country, women are still required to cover themselves from head to toe and non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

'We are shooting for high-end individuals, there won't be any mass tourism here,' said SCT spokesman Majid Al-Shiddi.

'We target people who like Saudi Arabia for what it is, people who will like the experience and hopefully come back again and again.'

Saudi officials hope to attract 1.5m tourists by 2020 which signals a huge jump from the figure of less than 100,000 non-pilgrim visitors the country receives today.

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