JEDDAH, 27 May 2003 — A major tourism forum opens at the Hilton here today to discuss strategies to promote domestic tourism. It will discuss 20 working papers.
Saudis spend about SR45 billion on foreign tourism annually and the government intends to grab a part of this amount.
Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed is scheduled to inaugurate the three-day event organized by the Supreme Commission for Tourism in cooperation with the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the commission, will address the forum today.
“The role of manpower and support services in boosting domestic tourism” will be the topic of discussion for the first session, to be chaired by Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, secretary-general of the Manpower Council.
The forum is organized ahead of the Jeddah tourist festival, which starts on June 26.
According to a report carried by Al-Watan daily, the festival, which is to continue for 36 days, could fetch a revenues of SR2.2 billion. As many as 250 cultural, recreational, educational and sports programs are planned to attract tourists and visitors from within the Kingdom and abroad.
Organizers expect a larger turnout of tourists this year as many Saudis may not travel to foreign destinations fearing SARS and terrorist attacks.
Wael Abdullah Yamani, secretary of the executive committee of tourism, told the Arabic daily that Saudis and expatriates spent more than SR1.8 billion during the last festival.
