Tourism generates SR17bn in revenues

Tourism festivals in the Kingdom have generated more than SR17 billion in revenues over the past eight years, said Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).
“In 2000, only three tourism festivals were held in the Kingdom. Since the establishment of a special department for this purpose eight years ago, the number of festivals has increased every year,” he said.
In the same period, 450 tourism activities were organized across the Kingdom, creating 55,000 permanent and temporary jobs.
“These festivals drew a record crowd of 55 million over the past eight years,” said the SCTA chief. He said the SCTA had spent SR60 million to organize the festivals. “This amount is very small compared to the revenues earned from the festivals.”
The SCTA organized a number of training programs for 1,500 Saudis to make nine visits to other countries to learn about best international practices in holding such events.
He also announced a comprehensive development program for tourism in the Kingdom for the period 2014 to 2018 and promised to expand the tourism calendar to events all year round. This would create more jobs for citizens.
Prince Sultan said the SCTA has a long-term plan to ensure tourism benefits citizens economically and culturally. He said citizens are demanding local events that will cater to families, the youth and children.
He said statistics compiled by the SCTA's center for information and tourism research at festivals over the past five years, showed there was a 72 percent satisfaction rate with the events and that tourism numbers had grown substantially.