JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal inaugurated in Obhur yesterday the 29th Jeddah summer festival, entitled Jeddah Ghair (Jeddah Is Different), which is to run for 45 days and include 250 social, entertainment, sports, cultural and shopping activities.
Over three million people from within Saudi Arabia and abroad are expected to visit Jeddah during the festival.
Saleh Al-Turki, chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said the summer festival has become one of the city’s more important events. “The festival each year is getting even better as they get more experience and come up with new ideas to entertain people,” he said, adding that the festival is expected to generate over SR3 billion.
Meanwhile, the unprecedented flow of domestic tourists to the city in the run up to the festival has led to hotels and furnished apartments becoming fully booked. “We find it hard to find accommodation for clients looking for our services, as all quality hotels are now full and have closed reservations. About 70 percent of guests are families and foreign tourists,” Muhammad Al-Rifaei of Jeddah InterContinental said.
Col. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, director of the Jeddah Traffic Department, said traffic police are fully prepared to meet the worrisome traffic situation on the city’s roads. “The Traffic Department guarantees smooth movement of vehicles on the roads during the festival season. The department has mobilized required manpower and equipment to meet high volumes of traffic due to the summer festival, summer vacations and pilgrim season occurring simultaneously,” Col. Al-Qahtani said.
He also urged visitors to stick to traffic rules and exercise patience at locations where there is traffic bottlenecks due to ongoing road work. “The department is working in concert with the education directorate on a program entitled ‘The Friend of Traffic Police’ to enlist the cooperation of students in enforcing traffic regulations,” he added.
The municipality has refurbished the city’s parks with new swings and slides. “In view of the increasing number of tourists this summer, the municipality has renovated 450 parks and developed 125 new ones,” said Bahjat Hamouh, director of gardens and tree planting at the municipality.
The Jeddah International Center for Events will host many musical concerts by famous singers from the region, including Muhammad Abduh.
More than 201 shopping centers and malls are also to compete in presenting discounts of between 20 to 70 percent to visitors. The JCCI has issued the discount tickets after verifying the original prices of products and the source of the products.
