First of all, I am aware of the question about how to visit Saudia Arabia. This question is about why doesn't Saudi Arabia issue tourist visas.
Second, for some time now I am wondering why Saudi Arabia doesn't issue tourist visas or why it stopped issuing them after allowing the visas for tourists for some time. I was looking around all Saudi official websites about the reason behind this but came up empty. I then tried searching the local news websites but again, no luck at all! I am surprised that such an issue is totally ignored and not even one article in Arabic about the issue.
I know some might think because Saudi's official religion is Islam and they might not want non-Muslims to come, but this is wrong because a large percentage of the 7 million expats are non-Muslims, I'm also sure there is no rule to prefer Muslim expats over non-Muslims. If someone is wondering why Saudi Arabia issues visas for Hajj (pilgrimage), well Makkah and Madinah the targeted cities for pilgrims are considered holy cities and open to all Muslims as per The Book, so Saudi can not just stop people from visiting these cities. So religion is out of question.
Is it politics? I don't think so, Saudi Arabia is considered a friend of almost all the world. In addition to that, the suspension of these visas is general to all nationalities. So I do not think it is politics.
What's kinda funny is, I (as Saudi national) can get a visa to almost all countries (most do not even require a visa or require VOA) while nationals from these countries can not get a visa to visit Saudi! isn't that weird? Why don't these countries suspend visas for Saudis? You know, treat me the same way you want to be treated!
Anyway, I am not asking for an open discussion, I am simply asking for the reason behind this if anyone is aware of it or have a source that explains why.