RIYADH, 8 December 2004 — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, unveiled the commission’s new corporate logo yesterday.
The dynamic lines forming the logo and the 13 points where they meet indicate travel and roaming across the Kingdom’s 13 provinces which include Riyadh, Hail, Jouf, Asir, Tabuk, Eastern Province, Jizan, Madinah, Qasim, Makkah, Najran, Baha and the Northern Border Region.
“The typeface used in the corporate identity is a Zuhair script, which dates back to 24H and is probably the oldest Arabic script documented so far,” explained the SCT secretary-general.
Prince Sultan pointed out that the Zuhair script has been registered by UNESCO and documented in history archives.
The project to design the new corporate identity was awarded to a specialized international company, which conducted a series of research programs in order to determine the best possible identity to showcase the Kingdom’s tourism assets.
“The aim of the new logo is to encourage citizens and residents to visit various provinces to discover rich and diverse attractions that make Saudi Arabia such an attractive tourism destination,” said the prince.
He said the new identity showcases the modern look of the Kingdom reaffirming that Saudi Arabia is a modern nation, unique, attractive and elegant.”
Before launching the new logo, the new identity was presented to 14 groups of executives of the travel and tourism industry in various parts of Saudi Arabia who approved the new design.
During the press conference heralding the new logo, Prince Sultan said the Kingdom is keen on uprooting terrorism besides boosting security and stability in the country to protect the lives of its citizens and foreign residents.
He said there was no justification for killing civilians adding that, “our nation is facing a challenge, which contradicts the values and principles of our religion and culture.”
Asked about the terror attack on the US Consulate in Jeddah, which might hamper the future tourism plans of the SCT, he said: “We are not focused on international tourism right now, rather we are focused mainly on domestic and regional tourism and promoting the newly-launched Umrah plus program. Sporadic violence will not affect either our events or policies.”
