RIYADH, 16 July 2006 — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), signed two major agreements with two different organizations here yesterday with a view to delivering better services for tourists.
The first accord was signed by the SCT and the King Fahd Security College to train personnel of various government agencies for providing security to tourists and how to deal with visitors.
“The second agreement was signed by the SCT and Smart Link, under which the Smart Link company will operate, manage and develop tourism phone,” said Ali H. Abdul Wahed, a spokesman for SCT.
The SR8.4 million contract with Smart Link, a leader in call centers and customer service, will help establish and operate a tourism call center system called “Tourism Phone” for the next three years.
Prince Sultan and Waleed Al-Derean, president of Al-Khaleej Training & Education, the parent company of Smart Link, signed the contract.
The SCT is looking forward to supporting the tourism inside the Kingdom through the tourism phone project by providing free services for both the tourist and the tourism service providers.
The phone project allows tourists to utilize free services round the year by using toll free number (800-755-0000) for information about festivals, activities, and the tourist packages in collaboration with hotels, residential units, travel agencies, resorts, hospitals, restaurants, gyms, airlines, car rentals, banks and pilgrimage service providers.
According to the contract, the operating company for the call center will provide services to the tourist through different communication channels (fax, Internet, telephone, SMS, e-mail) 24 hours a day. It will also work to improve the reservation system and the service, which are presented by the vendors. Also, it will connect the call center central information system with the service providers through automated system which will enable them updating their offers easily and daily.
Referring to the tourism phone contract, the executive director of Smart Link, Safwan Al-Khatib, said: “The Smart Link consists of highly experienced and professional managers as well as skilled workers. Only in 16 months time, Smart Link has become one of the largest outsourcing contact centers in Saudi Arabia having an impressive clientele. We have got the biggest contract ever in this industry by a government department.”
On SCT’s tie-up with the Riyadh-based King Fahd Security College, a statement released by the SCT here yesterday, said: “This agreement will ensure safety and security to the tourists — domestic or foreign nationals.”
The SCT statement also said that a project would be prepared by the specialized departments of the college, before this major training and orientation program actually takes off.
“But, the program will be used by all sectors and all government agencies dealing with tourists and especially those dealing with security issues,” it said.
The KFSC is a premier security training center of the Kingdom with a range of facilities for teaching and training. The college, which has been operating under the Ministry of the Interior, also serves as a center for training, making security policies, research and studies besides being a documentation center for security documents. It also has a museum featuring a rare collection of arms, equipment, and security systems.
