RIYADH, 21 June 2004 — The Supreme Commission for Tourism says it is undeterred by “sporadic” terror attacks in the Kingdom and will press ahead with plans to achieve seven percent growth in domestic tourism.
“Sporadic terror attacks in the Kingdom will not hamper the tourism plans of the SCT,” said Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Fahd ibn Abdullah, SCT deputy secretary-general.
The commission predicts 30 million domestic tourist trips amid hopes that the security measures currently in place will substantially curb violence.
Prince Abdul Aziz was unveiling the SCT’s marketing plan at a press conference here on Saturday. “The travel and tourism business is bouncing back and the Kingdom is planning to host 19 cultural festivals for tourists in its different provinces this summer,” he said.
SCT was seeking to “generate better understanding” of domestic tourism and make Saudi Arabia the No. 1 destination for tourists.
Earlier the commission had said it was targeting international tourism, but that appears to have been put on the backburner.
Prince Abdul Aziz sought to allay fears of more terror attacks, while stressing tourism plans would remain unaffected by the violence.
SCT officials said they were hopeful Saudi tourists would come to prefer domestic destinations. “The holiday destinations in the Kingdom will continue to appeal more,” the prince said.
The commission hoped “to build a viable tourism industry in the Kingdom that will benefit all Saudis by providing investors with meaningful business opportunities and Saudi youth with new employment horizons,” he said.
The SCT has budgeted SR9 million of assistance for provinces and organizations to promote tourism and hold tourism events including cultural festivals this year.
The SCT has designated 2004 the year of tourism promotion. Festivals are geared to families and aim to encourage weekend trips once the long holidays are over.
Meanwhile, the country’s new investment chief said yesterday that Saudi Arabia is too important a market to be shunned by foreign entrepreneurs despite a spate of terror attacks against Westerners.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the large global economies, and it will always be a destination for certain foreign investments,” Amr Dabbagh was quoted as saying by AFP.
“Competitive advantages of Saudi Arabia will always attract foreign investments, and I honestly feel that terrorism will not deviate the attention of those who are interested in the hydrocarbon market in particular,” he said. “For example, we’ve just seen a $4 billion commitment by Sumitomo.”
Dabbagh said his Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) was developing a strategy and business plan targeting specific investors that would address the security issue.
“The idea is to identify specific investment opportunities that are linked to specific competitive advantages, and then match these opportunities with specific investor profiles,” said Dabbagh, who took over at SAGIA in March.
“Our communication will be a segmented and focused type of communication with targeted investors.
One part would focus on the security issue and how we can deal with it. SAGIA will always be here to partner investors,” he said.
Dabbagh stressed that terrorism was a global scourge.
“Terrorism is not exclusive to Saudi Arabia. Lots of countries have suffered from terrorism for a long time — Ireland 40 years, Britain 20 years — and yet they have delivered high growth rates,” he said.
Moreover, “Saudi Arabia is a large country, larger than Western Europe. So if an incident happens here or there it doesn’t mean that the whole country is at risk or that wherever you are you are at risk,” Dabbagh said.
“The problem is there, no doubt, but the good news is that Saudi Arabia is committed and serious in dealing with the grassroots of the problem,” he added.
