MAKKAH, 22 June — The imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday urged Muslims to choose Islamic countries as their travel destination.
"Islam does not ban the faithful from traveling, provided they go to Islamic countries," Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais said in his Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque.
He called on would-be travelers to "steer clear of visits to graves, adultery, alcohol and drugs," and urged Saudis to travel more frequently within the Kingdom.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, has said Saudi nationals spent $14.4 billion on foreign travel in 2000, staying more than 100 million nights abroad on 4.4 million trips.
Europe and the United States attracted a large chunk of the revenue.
But travel industry officials said earlier this month that tens of thousands of Saudi holidaymakers had dumped the United States and Europe for Muslim and Arab countries after the introduction of stringent security measures in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
