More than 50 government and private establishments, including the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and the Jeddah municipality participated. Over 200 activities featured at the festival. Chairman of the JCCI’s Tourist Committee Prince Abdullah bin Saud, who is also head of the festival’s organizing committee, said more than 4 million domestic and foreign tourists visited Jeddah during the festival, generating revenues of more than SR3 billion which have boosted the city’s economy.
“The festival has greatly contributed to creating an active tourist culture in various areas in the city including markets, malls and amusement parks,” he said.
Prince Abdullah said the Jeddah festival has topped all Saudi tourist activities in the Kingdom. He said the participation of a number of government and private bodies in the festival was proof of the teamwork spirit needed to organize such activities.
JCCI Deputy Chairman Mazen Batterjee said the economic and tourist sectors were the main beneficiaries of the festival. He called for giving more attention to tourist projects of an amusement and cultural nature and said the festival gave a strong boost to the city’s economy.
“The event’s sponsorship of the JCCI, the home of businessmen, gave a new momentum to the economic movement of the city,” Batterjee added.
Secretary-general of the chamber Adnan Mandourah described the festival as the largest and most successful in the history of Jeddah and said its activities have covered all districts of the city. Mandourah expected the tourist sector and the festivals to be among the most important economic sources for Jeddah in the coming few years and said tourism in the Kingdom is fast growing and expected to provide job opportunities for more than 90,000 people in the coming three years.
He said Jeddah is hosting a number of developed tourist facilities including hotels, furnished apartments, resorts, restaurants, museums and others.
“The festival has played a great role in the flourishing of tourist investments in Jeddah,” he added.
