JEDDAH, 17 July 2006 — Saudi tourist operators have virtually suspended operations to Lebanon following the ongoing Israeli attacks on the country.
“While most of the tourists from the Kingdom want to cancel their bookings, others want to go on holiday to other safer places such as Egypt, Malaysia, Morocco and Tunis,” said a reliable source in the Saudi tourism industry.
The source mentioned that bookings to Lebanon had peaked to a record high of 160,000 reservations in July alone but everything was now ruined due to the Israeli bombings.
News agencies reported that since the start of the bombings more than 55,000 tourists from the Gulf, with Saudis being in the majority, had crossed the Lebanese border into Syria with a view to catching flights to the Kingdom and other Gulf states.
Abdullah Al-Tayyar, a Jeddah tour operator, put the number of Saudi tourists who went to Lebanon before the outbreak of war at 100,000. “Saudi families prefer Lebanon as a tourist destination during the vacation season mainly because a lot of Saudis own properties there. They also have large investments in the tourism industry in Lebanon,” he said.
Khalil Abdul Rahman Bahadar, a member of the National Committee for Tourism, Haj and Umrah, said: “The cancellation of the thousands of confirmed reservations to Lebanon will undoubtedly increase the demand for domestic tourism by around 30 percent, especially with the possibility of trouble spreading to Syria. Syria and Lebanon are the two countries where Saudi families like to spend their vacations normally.”
He added that already several locations such as Asir, Al-Hada and Al-Shifa in the Kingdom have started to feel the increasing influx of tourists who have canceled their bookings to Lebanon. He affirmed that these tourist centers have the capacity to accommodate the increasing tourism demands.
Yahya Eisa, another travel agent, said several Saudi families having canceled their flights to Lebanon had decided to travel to Morocco and Tunisia.
In Madinah, meanwhile, Saudi tourists who had gone to Lebanon arrived via Syria at the Prince Muhammad ibn Abdul Aziz Airport.
According to Al-Madinah newspaper, the Saudi tourists were taking advantage of extra flights arranged by Saudi Arabian Airlines to bring back Saudis stranded in Syria.
Muhammad Al-Fareedi, a Saudi tourist, said that he faced a very difficult situation while in Lebanon and that he did not feel safe until he had reached the Syrian boarder.
“My wife and kids could not sleep because of the situation. We stayed in a bunker inside a hotel to escape Israeli rockets,” he said. “We left Syria by land after the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon provided buses for us. The journey was very scary because we heard that the road was under attack. The scene of destruction and fire was enough to scare everybody on the bus. We could hear Israeli fighter jets flying over us. Now that I am back, I do not think that I will travel anywhere this year.”
Another Saudi, Abdullah Al-Mufarraj, said that he came back from Syria after a long journey from Lebanon. “The situation was unbearable,” he said. “I managed to get my wife and children out of Syria first and then I had to travel back to get my mother and brothers out. With the help of embassy employees, I managed to find a flight reservation and came back home. My heart and prayers are with the Lebanese people at this very difficult time.”
