JEDDAH, 9 May 2006 — In another move to attract foreign tourists to the Kingdom, the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) announced yesterday that it would continue to license private museums. Applications for one-year renewable licenses must be submitted to the Agency for Antiquities and Museums.
“Public and private organizations as well as individuals are allowed to establish private museums related to heritage, science or others as a cultural or investment project,” SCT Secretary-General Prince Sultan ibn Salman said, adding that such museums must abide by SCT’s regulations and standards.
Applicants must provide complete information about their collections and where they want to establish their museums, Sultan said.
He said private museums would be allowed to charge fees from visitors. However, he added that such charges should be affordable to the majority of people.
Two new museums have been opened in Baha and Hail as part of a national plan to set up a museum in each of the Kingdom’s 13 regions. The total number of museums of all types is currently put at 70 with 10 more in the planning stage.
In addition to the National Museum in Riyadh, several historical buildings have been renovated and converted into museums in Jeddah, Taif, Hofuf and other areas. Saudis have been trained in the management and maintenance of museums.
The move to establish private museums comes after the SCT decided to issue tourist visas through licensed tour operators. The Kingdom’s historical sites and museums will attract a large number of foreign tourists.
The SCT chief said Saudi Arabia wants to attract 1.5 million tourists a year by 2020, excluding the millions who come on Haj and Umrah pilgrimages. He spoke of the ambitious goal of making tourism account for 18 percent of the gross domestic product by 2020, in a country that is the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil.
Sultan wants to attract well-heeled and discerning tourists eager to soak up a taste of the real Arabia. “I think 70 percent of tourists today are after a cultural and traditional experience,” the prince was quoted as saying to reporters in Dubai at the opening of a tourism promotion expo last week.
Although the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah are off limits to non-Muslims, the prince spoke of the charms of the many picturesque oases, valleys, mountains and even bountiful countryside.
He touted the pleasures of snorkeling and diving off the country’s western Red Sea coast, whose beautiful coral reefs are said to rival those in the popular Egyptian resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Ghardaga.
There is also tremendous potential for off-road adventures in the vast Al-Rub Al-Khali desert (the Empty Quarter), the largest continuous expanse of desert in the world, to the southeast and the resorts of Taif and Abha in the mountainous regions to the west.
Saudi Arabia has already carried out a large number of infrastructure projects to promote tourism.
