RIYADH, 3 November 2003 — The Shoura Council remains divided on the naturalization law submitted by the Ministry of the Interior.
Several members in yesterday’s session urged the council to return the draft to the ministry and call for the revision of all articles of the law, not just the eight submitted to the council.
Sheikh Saleh Bin-Humaid, the Shoura chairman, said there was a danger that this could spell the end of the draft law. “The fear is that if such a decision is taken and the draft is sent back to its source, it may be returned to us, or it may not,” he said.
But the main discussion focused on a draft document from the Supreme Commission for Tourism entitled “The General Strategy for Development of National Tourism.”
The report highlights obstacles facing tourism in the Kingdom and strategies to overcome them. Among the obstacles the paper mentions are social norms and customs in Saudi Arabia.
The Supreme Commission for Tourism has identified 10,000 tourist sites in the Kingdom that could attract domestic and foreign tourists. The report also said tourism could provide two million jobs for young Saudis.
The council debated whether Umrah and Haj should be considered tourism. “This is not tourism,” said one member. “Coming to perform Umrah or Haj or visit relatives is not tourism.” Some six million pilgrims come to the Kingdom every year for Umrah and Haj.
“Tourism is about attractive spots that are open for investment and that provide leisure facilities,” he added.
Another member said that the Kingdom should open all its doors to pilgrims. “They come to us for religious purposes and then we close the doors in their faces in religious matters,” he said.
“Why can’t we have the Hera Cave — the cave where the Angel Gabriel first came down with the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) — and the graves of the martyrs in the Battle of Badr near Madinah open for people to visit?” he asked.
Some members cited red tape as a major obstacle facing tourism.
“The real problem facing tourism is other regulations and the constraints on the Supreme Commission for Tourism. The commission should be given all the privileges it needs. Unless that happens, everything we’ve discussed will be nothing but words,” said the member.
“Look at how fast things are done in Dubai and how fast the decisions there take place, starting from the visas on arrival,” said another member.
Members also said there was a false perception that tourism presented a danger to the Kingdom’s customs and traditions. “Not all foreign tourists want to ruin our country’s values,” one member said. “In fact, the majority of tourists want convenient tourism,” he added.
Another hot topic was the need to encourage domestic tourism to stem the flow of tourists who spend billions of riyals abroad.
“This report tells us that during 2002, four million Saudis traveled abroad for tourism — that’s a quarter of the population... I do not think that there is any other country in the world like this,” said one member.
“We should ask ourselves why Saudis travel to nearby countries like Egypt, Syria, or Turkey. It’s because in those countries there are tourist facilities and services,” he said.
