JEDDAH: People in the Kingdom set aside their swine flu concerns and took their children to theme parks during Eid.
Nihad Ismaeel, executive manager of Al-Shallal theme park in Jeddah, said that they had about 500,000 visitors during Ramadan and Eid, an increase of 20 to 25 percent compared to last year.
Haitham Nosair, owner of Jungle Land, said he received the same number of visitors this past month as he didin Ramadan last year.
“There is no doubt that people fear crowded areas, as they are afraid of the virus,” said Nosair. “It did not affect us in Jungle Land precisely, but the tourism in Jeddah has been affected; not only because of the virus but also because of the vacation that was messed up since children are on leave while their parents are back at work.”
Though the two theme parks stressed they have their medical centers operating in case of emergencies, when asked if they provide masks to their employees who are the most in contact with people they both said they do not since their games are outdoors.
