JEDDAH: Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, said yesterday that SCTA would sign a contract with a major consultancy firm to revise the Kingdom’s tourism strategy.
Speaking to reporters after laying the foundation stone for a college of tourism and hotel management in the eastern city of Al-Ahsa, Prince Sultan said new companies would be established to carry out tourism projects.
He hoped that work on the long-awaited Al-Oqair tourism project in the Eastern Province would start within two months. “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has given us the go-ahead to hold negotiations with the project’s developers,” he said.
The first phase of the project will cost SR100 million.
The SCTA has plans to establish a number of tourism projects on the Red Sea coast. The Council of Ministers has approved these projects under a strategic tourism development scheme.
Prince Sultan disclosed plans to establish similar tourism and hotel management colleges in Riyadh, Madinah and Taif as part of the commission’s efforts to boost the Kingdom’s tourism industry. “Being a historical place, Al-Ahsa has the potential to attract large-scale investments in the coming years,” Prince Sultan said while launching the college.
Apart from the college, the SR90 million project in Al-Ahsa includes a four-star hotel. The college will enroll 2,000 students.
Prince Sultan underscored the cooperation between the commission and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. “We are now jointly running more than 40 tourism-related projects in different parts of the Kingdom,” he said.
The prince said the Qaisariya market in Al-Ahsa would be developed with the cooperation of the ministry. “We have a plan to develop the central area of Hofuf as part of efforts to promote tourism projects in the region.”
Al-Ahsa municipality has prepared a study for developing central Hofuf. “Our aim is to project the city’s history and preserve its antiquities,” the prince said.
The commission also intends to convert the first school in Al-Ahsa, Ameeriya School, into a cultural center and a museum.
Prince Sultan said the commission would establish rural hotels in various parts of Al-Ahsa. “We have started issuing licenses to establish such hotels and hope within two years Al-Ahsa will make considerable progress in tourism.”
Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), said his organization in association with SCTA was working to train Saudis in hotel industry to meet the region’s labor requirements.
“We have designed the college of tourism and hotel management in Al-Ahsa with this aim. At present about 700 students are being trained in the field while 300 have already graduated,” he said.
Later yesterday, Prince Sultan chaired a meeting of the Tourism Development Council in Al-Ahsa. The meeting, which was attended by Prince Badr bin Mohammed bin Jalawi, the city’s governor, discussed future tourism projects in the region.
