Tourism’s cultural and economic impact stressed

Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), emphasized on Sunday the unlimited cultural and economic benefits of tourism and urged public and private agencies to make greater efforts to encourage Saudi tourists and holidaymakers to vacation in the Kingdom during this summer season.
“We have to exert greater efforts and work with partners throughout the provinces to provide high quality services and control prices, taking into consideration the level of services, in addition to enriching tourism festivals with events that appeal to every age group,” the prince said while addressing SCTA members in a meeting.
The meeting, which was attended by the president’s deputies and advisers, in addition to SCTA’s director-generals and executive directors of its branches, discussed the recent decisions made by SCTA’s board of directors and progress of ongoing projects.
The meeting also reviewed the budget for the current year and the features of the proposed budget for 2014.
“We have to intensify our efforts to promote cooperation with public and private sector entities for the rehabilitation of tourism and urban heritage sites in order to enable Saudi citizens to enjoy tourism in their country,” the SCTA chief told the meeting.
Meanwhile, Prince Sultan met with the members of the National Youth Strategy team of the Ministry of Economy and Planning. Habeeb Salah, the undersecretary for economic affairs at the ministry, headed the team. The meeting, which saw a presentation on the strategy and its stages of progress, discussed ways to benefit from the Youth Tourism Development Project.