JEDDAH, 7 July 2005 -— Umrah service firms in the Kingdom will be converted to tourism companies by the end of this year, according to Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT).
“We have reached an agreement with the Haj Ministry to change the license of Umrah firms to become tourist companies by the end of this year. We don’t consider Haj and Umrah as tourism products. At the same time, we believe pilgrims could make use of our huge tourism potential when they come for Haj and Umrah,” he said.
Prince Sultan said his organization would launch a nationwide school tourism program this month, targeting at least 1.45 million students and 6,000 teachers. This is part of SCT’s efforts to prepare the nation for tourism.
“We are now in the process of building an industry from bottom to top, in terms of setting out regulations, training a national cadre and preparing citizens to welcome tourists,” Okaz Arabic daily quoted the prince as saying.
Asked about media campaigns being launched by neighboring Arab countries to attract Saudi tourists, Prince Sultan acknowledged that Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry was not yet ready to compete with other countries.
However, he emphasized that the Kingdom’s tourism strategy, which was prepared with the support of 7,000 public and private institutions and consultancy offices proved Saudi Arabia could gradually become one of the preferred tourist destinations in the world.
“We are presently focusing on Saudi tourists, who go to foreign tourist centers like other people. We are targeting to achieve a five percent growth rate annually in order to realize our strategy,” he pointed out.
He said the SCT was thinking of promoting Umrah to encourage pilgrims coming for the lesser pilgrimage to visit the country’s tourist resorts. “We would like to promote business, conference and medical tourism shortly in connection with Umrah,” he explained.
