JEDDAH, 25 March — A cruise ship docked in Jeddah yesterday and from it disembarked 140 British, Irish and American tourists, all eager to learn more about the city’s historical buildings and local population.
For so long completely closed to tourism, Saudi Arabia is now slowly opening up to those traveling in package groups. Thousands of tourists from all over the world are taking advantage of desert safaris, educational trips and Red Sea diving packages every year.
The first stop on the tourist trail for those who came yesterday was Naseef House, Jeddah’s best-preserved historical building which houses a museum documenting Jeddah’s history.
Sami Nawar, director of the Jeddah Historical Preservation Society, gave a lecture in English that covered the city’s growth from a small port to the Kingdom’s bustling, modern commercial capital. The efforts of Nawar and his society to preserve the Balad district were also highlighted.
Afterward, the group hit downtown and had lunch in a local restaurant before visiting the oldest mosque in the city and the famous alleyways of Al-Alawi souq.
When asked to reflect on their experiences by this reporter, the reaction was entirely positive. Indeed, the most common comment was that the Saudi authorities should as a priority open tourism offices all over the world to attract more visitors to the country.
Most were visiting the Kingdom for the first time and had no idea about what to expect.
Patricia O’Connor, 40, from Ireland, said: “I never expected that the Kingdom will have state-of-the-art roads and clean cities like this.”
Before coming here, she believed it would be full of camels, deserts and oil wells — all baking in intense heat.
Patricia also admitted that she had held negative impressions about Muslims before coming to Jeddah.
“We have only a few Muslims in Ireland. So I did not have good idea about them. However, I have found that the people in Saudi Arabia are very kind and hospitable,” she added.
Frederick Pyne, 54, from Belfast also pointed out that he had been completely ignorant about Jeddah before coming to the Kingdom.
“I have not seen architecture like this before,” he said. “Or any houses like those I saw in Balad.”
Scott John Jordan, 56, from England said he was eager to learn more about Saudi Arabia.
“There are books about tourist sites in Egypt and Yemen. But I haven’t seen anything written about the Kingdom,” Jordan said, adding that he was already making plans to return for a longer trip.
Anne Burns from Chicago, 77, the only American tourist on the group, said she was impressed by the women’s fashionable clothes displayed in the city’s markets.
“I had a distorted picture of Saudi Arabia, I have to admit it,” she said. “But this visit has changed all that.”
She said she had believed that all the people in Saudi Arabia would be very harsh in their attitude to her as a woman. However, she claimed to have “found comfort” in her abaya (black gown). “I will show my abaya to all my friends back home. It’s beautiful,” she said.
She expressed her hope that Saudi Arabia would promote tourism by publishing books and pamphlets on the Kingdom and opening tourism offices abroad.
“There are so many things to see and do here. If the Saudi authorities open up to the tourism market, they will definitely get a massive response,” she speculated.
William Facey, director of London Center of Arab Studies, who has visited the Kingdom several times and accompanied the tour group on this occasion, also urged the Saudi government to take speedy steps to boost tourism from abroad.
