RIYADH: A four-member TV crew from the Kingdom has left for Sri Lanka to film a documentary titled "Faces and Places" to be shown on Saudi TV during the holy month of Ramadan.
In addition to the places where early Arabs had visited, the crew will visit several of the country's prominent tourist attractions.
"We have arranged this tour on a request made by Media Insight, a private company that works for Saudi television to prepare documentaries to project countries that would attract Saudi tourists," said Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Abdul Ageed Mohamed Marleen.
The embassy has arranged the tour in cooperation with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Sri Lankan Airlines.
The media group, which left on Wednesday, comprises Faisal Shadid Al-Otaibi, TV director and leader of group; Mubarak Al-Otaibi, producer; Assaleh Taha Mosa, cameraman; and Khaleddiya Al-Daghestani, interpreter.
Speaking to Arab News, Faisal Al-Otaibi said the purpose is to take Sri Lanka to every Saudi home through the local television to show them the country's natural beauty, culture, heritage and the contributions made by Arabs who visited the island centuries ago. "Some of the beautiful mosques in Sri Lanka were built by Arabs who visited the island as traders," he said.
Arab traders built Sri Lanka's Abrar Masjid. The well-known Arab traveler Ibn Battuta visited the island in A.D. 1325.
Al-Otaibi said the program would be telecast in three 20-minute episodes weekly.
