Yanbu gears up to become a tourist destination

Yanbu has always had a special place in my heart. It's where my maternal grandparents were born and raised. Yanbu was their home before they left with my mother on camel for Madinah.
I remember Yanbu as a small village and have childhood memories of the family farm where my grandparents grew dates, lemon and mulkhiah. They also grew roses and mint. That village disappeared and there is little left of the farm. But there is a tug in my heart for my Yanbawi roots.
Last week I visited Yanbu for the first time in many years and this little village has transformed into a city of nearly 300,000 people. New villas have sprung up to accommodate expatriate oil refinery works in the industrial city. But the municipality has performed tremendous work to make Yanbu what the Jeddah Municipality couldn't or wouldn't do.
Yanbu's new streets are wide, clean, well paved and well maintained. Curbs and gutters line every new street. Lighting is good along the roads and I saw not a single light fixture out of order. The roundabouts featured public sculptures that were well maintained. New commercial buildings, retail shops and restaurants were sprouting up on every corner in the northern areas of the cities.
Yanbu is much like Madinah. There are too few four-star restaurants and entertainment is limited to family functions. So there is little in the way of socializing at entertainment venues in the city.
But north of the city is an entirely different story. There are only a handful of resorts that dot the Red Sea Coast, but mile after mile of virgin white beaches give way to the emerald and blue waters. Clearly, Yanbu has plans to build more resorts. I predict that if the Yanbu municipality does not fall prey to predatory businessmen who close beaches to build commercial centers and high-end hotels, this coastal city will be the Riviera of the Middle East.
The beaches are a work in progress and so far Yanbu has done well in its planning. There is a wide highway that leads to all the beaches. There are gazebos to allow families to picnic. The waters are well marked for scuba divers and pleasure craft.
The Al-Alahlam Marina is packed with pleasure craft for tourists, but less than 20 percent of the beaches are developed. In fact, there are few restaurants along the beaches. I suspect that this will change in the next decade, but it was a pleasure to walk the beaches without worrying about garbage, rats, mosquitoes and feral cats.
Yanbu, though, like many regions in Saudi Arabia, struggle with its lack of attention to its historic roots. There is a historic area of Yanbu that includes several 19th century residential structures in a state of extreme disrepair. However, the municipality has restored the residence of T.E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence had helped lay a runway for British aircraft to help Arabs defend Yanbu against the Turks in 1916.
The Yanbu Municipality is on the right track to make its city a tourist destination, if not the new Bride of the Red Sea. Close attention to infrastructure and refusal to fall victim to business pressure undoubtedly will make Yanbu a success.