RIYADH, 2 June 2004 — Enjoying a 25 percent growth in its tourist sector, Sharjah is offering a comprehensive summer package, which includes air ticket, hotel accommodation, visa facility and city tours.
“Sharjah is very interested in building tourism links with the Kingdom by offering a range of packages that would suit not only Saudi tourists but also foreigners in the Kingdom,” said the director of the Sharjah Commercial Tourism and Development Authority (SCTDA), Mohamed Al-Noman, at the “Visit Sharjah Roadshow” under way at the Four Seasons Hotel. He added that the package offered to the Saudi market is highly competitive and that customers would get value for money.
“Our meeting today expresses SCTDA’s intention to communicate with the regional tourism sector and explain our strategies in targeting the local, regional and international tourism market in order to attract more tourism,” Noman said.
He added that with more than 50 hotels, furnished apartments and 60 travel agencies, the tourism sector in Sharjah is expected to be very effective in attracting tourists from the Kingdom.
He explained that citizens of the GCC countries do not need visas to enter the UAE; however, he said arrangements had been made by SCTDA to issue entry visas to foreigners through travel agents in the Kingdom.
He said foreigners from some countries who wanted to stay in Sharjah for more than two days should allow at least a week for visa formalities while those who want to stay less than two days will be issued visas over the counter. Sharjah’s income from tourism in 2003 was 825 million dirhams.
