JEDDAH, 2 January 2006 — The Kingdom is witnessing important developments in its nascent tourism sector, especially now that the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) has gained traction following its 2003 inception.
SCT Secretary-General Prince Sultan ibn Salman announced last year that the SCT is focusing on selling the Kingdom to Saudis themselves, who often travel abroad for their vacations.
“Our first priority is Saudis,” he said in November last year. “We are working along with the private sector in the Kingdom to encourage domestic tourism.”
In 2005, many services and attractions were launched in an effort to spur domestic tourism as well as to attract tourists from abroad. From participation in international tourism events to allowing people to take pictures of historical sites and other attractions, Saudi Arabia appears finally ready to take advantage on a global scale of its natural beauty and historical sites.
The SCT has beefed up its efforts to become a more user-friendly entity, and to train government workers on how to become more helpful to travelers at the Kingdom’s major airports and other entry points.
The Ministry of Information and the SCT launched a summer marketing campaign called, “Be Closer to Your Family ... Get to Know the Kingdom,” aimed at encouraging Saudis to spend their vacation dollars visiting other parts of the Kingdom. During the past two summer and Eid holidays, the SCT also set up a tourism hotline that offered travel tips and suggestions. The SCT said the toll-free number fielded over 100,000 queries last year.
The country’s marketing efforts also went global. The SCT won an award at the Telemundo Festival that took place in Mexico City in November. The event showcased some of the best advertisement productions by countries promoting their tourism. Saudi Arabia won laurels for its video promoting Arabian culture and heritage. This was the eighth award the video has received at various international events since 2004.
Three new sporting events were launched in 2005 in different places in the Kingdom in an effort to further promote internal tourism: The Hail Rally, the International Arabian Horse Festival in Taif and the Camel Beauty Pageant in Hafr Al-Batin.
In anticipation of increasing traffic at the country’s major ports of connection and entry, the SCT began in November training security and immigration officials to better assist travelers at the airports in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah. The first Information Center for Visitors in the country was set up at the King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh in December. It aims at promoting the attractions of the capital city.
In August last year, Prince Sultan announced that starting in February 2006 the Kingdom would begin issuing tourist visas, which, if put into effect, would mark a profound shift toward developing an open and thriving tourism industry.
At a recent SCT workshop, officials brainstormed to draw up locations that would receive special attention as potential tourism hotspots.
Walid Al-Hamidi, an SCT official involved with tourism development, told Arab News recently that the country’s natural features would be a great attraction for tourists.
“The southern Gulf region would be suitable for water activities. Sahab Park and the Reedah wildlife reserves, with their olive and juniper trees, can be an excellent attraction with a large number of birds, reptiles and monkeys. It would be entertaining for tourists to enjoy the rides through the hills and valleys, observing nature,” he said.
Prince Sultan has emphasized the need to address environmental concerns in order to preserve the tourism potentials.
“We are blessed with the Red Sea and what it contains. Therefore, it is a national project and all citizens are encouraged to participate,” he said.
In July last year, the “Do Not Leave a Trace” campaign was launched in order to clean and mitigate further contamination of the Red Sea from any pollution. Some 350 divers participated in this campaign. Through the campaign they managed to remove around three tons of garbage.
One of the main focus of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to attract tourists from abroad last year has been on regional travelers. To this end, the Kingdom participated in several regional events.
The Kingdom participated for the second time in the 6th Mediterranean Traveling Mall at Cairo, Egypt, in September 2005 aimed at promoting the Kingdom as an ideal tourist destination for Muslims, not just for Haj and Umrah.
Last month, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to cooperate in promoting travelers interested in history and antiquities. “Hopefully by exchanging experiences we will be able to give our best,” said Prince Sultan. The two countries agreed to cooperate in the rebuilding and repairing of some of the old villages and to help citizens there create a trade in their arts and crafts.
Prince Sultan said: “The SCT will follow a new way of handling all the antiquities in the Kingdom and will continue to search for more. More museums will open in the Kingdom and the old ones will be renovated.”
Meanwhile, Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad district has had its share of events in recent months.
The architect and head of Jeddah’s historical preservation projects, Sami Nawwar, told Arab News that the city has been host to many international guests.
“We have arranged more than 80 trips for official delegations and foreigners from many countries, such as India, Hong Kong, Germany, Argentina and others,” said Nawwar.
Another striking downtown attraction for tourists last year was the completion of nearly half of the excavation of a water system foundation dating back to the Mameluke Era (1382-1517AD).
The SCT and the Ministry of Education announced in December that the Hejaz Railway would be rebuilt and used as a tourism-oriented commuter rail line. The SCT said the project, which would connect Madinah with Syria, would be completed by next Eid.
It appears that 2005 was a year where Saudi Arabia gained momentum in its efforts to develop a truly international and national tourism sector.
