JEDDAH, 18 March 2004 — A three-day seminar on the effect of globalization on the Kingdom’s tourism industry opened in the southern city of Abha on Tuesday. More than 500 experts will debate 26 papers during the event.
The seminar comes a day after the Council of Ministers endorsed the national tourism strategy prepared by the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT). Some 600 experts and organizations took part in formulating the strategy.
Asir Deputy Governor Prince Faisal ibn Khaled, who opened the seminar at the Abha Palace Hotel, said tourism had become one of the biggest and fast growing industries in the world.
Speaking about the tourism strategy, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, SCT’s secretary-general, said the strategy was the result of 14 months of intense work in light of some 45 international experiments in the industry.
“We have conducted a total survey of tourism potentials in the country and it resulted in identifying more than 12,000 tourist sites,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the prince as saying.
The commission also conducted 331 research projects and 15 surveys and tens of workshops and field visits to prepare the strategy, which aims at promoting domestic tourism. The strategy seeks to protect and renovate the Kingdom’s sites of historical importance.
“It also gives importance to handicraft, rural industry and traditional souks,” Prince Sultan pointed out. “We have taken into consideration a number of principles while setting out the strategy, most importantly the Islamic fundamentals and the Kingdom’s social and cultural values,” he pointed out. “The strategy offers opportunities for all sections of society to participate in tourism development,” he said, adding that the private sector would play a big role in the process.
Prince Sultan presented a paper on the impact of globalization on the Kingdom’s tourism sector and said: “We should never be afraid of globalization. We should open our doors wide to others in order to enable them to know our country, our values, and our Islamic lifestyle as well as our development,” he said. “We must take the merits of globalization and avoid its demerits,” he added.
Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Daghestani, a former Shoura member, presented a paper on “Tourism and Globalization,” while Abdullah Al-Johani of Saudi Arabian Airlines presented a paper on “Tourism and International Marketing.”
The seminar heard another paper entitled “The Future of Tourism in the Kingdom” from Dr. Muhammad Saadi from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and another paper on “The Administrative and Information Dimensions of Tourism Under Globalization” by Muhammad Mubarak of the Madinah-based King Fahd Qur’an Printing Complex.
Prince Bandar ibn Saud, chairman of the board of trustees of Prince Sultan College of Tourism and Hotel Business in Abha, one of the seminar’s organizers, said the college’s branch in Jeddah would open next academic year (2004-5). “The college has restructured its programs to meet job market requirements,” he said.
Prince Bandar said the number of tourists in the world would reach one billion by 2010. The industry will contribute 12 percent of the world domestic product in the same year, he added.
The Kingdom expects domestic tourism to generate around SR25 billion ($6.66 billion) annually in the coming years. It also hopes that the tourism sector will create 2.3 million jobs for Saudis within five years.
Saudi Arabia already has a well-developed tourism infrastructure. The country has 7,068 tourist facilities including major hotels. It has built 3,354 public parks covering a total area of 44.6 million sq. m.
