JEDDAH, 25 April 2006 — The Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) announced yesterday that it would provide financial assistance up to SR100,000 to carry out research works on the industry as part of its efforts to promote domestic tourism.
“This program will give priority to researches related to the commission and the tourism industry in the Kingdom,” said Khaled Al-Dakhil, acting deputy secretary-general for planning and organization.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, Al-Dakhil emphasized the significance of research in boosting development.
“We have established a center for tourism information and research in order to promote studies and research in this vital sector,” he pointed out.
He said a research project could be fully or partially financed by the SCT. However, he insisted that the budget of such a project should not exceed SR100,000 and the work should be completed within a year.
He also expressed SCT’s readiness to pay a scholarship of up to SR30,000 to students preparing for master’s and doctorate degrees at Saudi universities, if their theses are related to tourism industry.
Al-Dakhil called upon researchers to present their research proposals to the commission to get approval and said the researchers should have minimum qualification required to achieve the objectives.
The commission has taken a series of steps to strengthen the Kingdom’s tourism industry. Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of SCT, signed an agreement last month with a law firm to draft the country’s general tourism law.
Muhammad Al-Sharief Law Firm will prepare the new law in association with an international consultancy office that specializes in tourism industry. The SR1.4-million contract would be completed within seven months.
Prince Sultan said the law was essential for smooth implementation of tourism projects. “The Council of Ministers has instructed the commission to set out necessary laws to match with the general tourism strategy,” he said.
The SCT has already revised all the existing tourism-related regulations in the country in order to make a unified general tourism law, Prince Sultan said, adding that the new law would help the commission organize all tourism sectors in the country.
Prince Sultan said emphasized the government’s plan to establish a full-fledged tourism industry with positive economic, social and national dimensions. Regional authorities would be given more powers to carry out tourism projects, he added.
The last four years have seen significant investment in the Kingdom’s tourism infrastructure with the opening of new hotels, resorts and tourist apartments.
