RIYADH, 5 November — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has said that the proposed national tourism plan, covering over 10,000 spots across the country, should consider all aspects of the Kingdom’s culture and tradition prior to its implementation.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, confirmed yesterday that Prince Abdullah in his directive has stressed that the tourism plan must be carefully studied and researched before its adoption.
The secretary-general was speaking on the occasion of a visit to the Commission’s headquarters by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier, minister of defense and aviation, and also the Commission’s chairman.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman said the strategic plan, drawn up under the directives of the second deputy premier, has been submitted to Prince Abdullah. Among other things, it calls for throwing open domestic tourism to all areas of the Kingdom instead of confining it to certain regions.
Earlier, Prince Sultan, accompanied by Prince Sultan ibn Salman, toured the various facilities of the Commission, where he was briefed on the tourism information and urban/environmental development programs as well as other activities of the Commission.
He also attended an audiovisual presentation on Geographic Information System (GIS) developed by the Commission to survey tourism sites and store the data in its database.
Prince Sultan ibn Salman also announced that the Commission is currently working with the Ministry of Planning to evaluate the impact of tourism on the national economy, and the per capita income that it generates, both at the level of the domestic tourist and the visitor from outside the Kingdom.
"We will also be able to measure the impact of tourism on our society as we don’t want any negative impact or allow tourism to divert from its planned goals," Prince Sultan said.
Referring to the National Plan for Tourism, he said it is an eight-point program with its accent on culture and heritage, environment and urban development, economic program, human resources development, tourism development (laws and regulations), tourism and society, and compilation of tourism data.
He pointed out that the next six months will be hectic as they will be negotiating with many institutions, including the private sector, to consider the changes required in the national plan as well as amendments to government rules and regulations.
"We want this plan to be viable and practical when submitted for approval by the Council of Ministers. We will make it ready for approval by all concerned institutions and partners, whether from the government, public or private sectors," Prince Sultan said.
He commended Minister of Interior Prince Naif, provincial governors, businessmen and experts in the respective regions without whose assistance the Commission would not have been able to take the first step — compilation of the data base covering 10,000 cultural and environmental sites in the Kingdom.
"This data base will now be developed into an Internet website," he said.
In reply to a question, Prince Sultan said developing the database was a difficult task due to the huge geographical spread of the Kingdom. This delayed the formulation and implementation of the tourism plan.
He added that the development of the database has already started.
"We were able, thank God, to form a large database comprising approximately 10,000 tourist sites. We were keen to carefully search for the protection of the sites. The database development has proceeded along with an in-depth study of the social attitudes and trends toward domestic tourism.
"In this context, he said the trends and attitudes toward tourism have also been surveyed, while the views of people working in this sector have been obtained together with input from the business community and the chambers of commerce and industry.
"Our survey was intended to define tourism constraints and identify available opportunities. It also covered essential factors, such as the market needs and the economic impact of tourism," he said, adding that the factors impeding the growth of tourism have also been reckoned with.
Asked about the findings of the survey, Prince Sultan said market research has established the viability of the tourism industry, as it caters to Umrah visitors, domestic tourists and international visitors. The Commission, he pointed out, does not intend to function like a large octopus institution but rather as a catalyst to stimulate the private sector.
"The higher directives of the government to the Commission are that it should not seek to be a dominating authority but one that supports the private sector as a leverage to the industry," he added.
