The Binladin Group has financed the tent and is constructing it. The SR36 million tent is expected to complete in six months coinciding with the opening of the sixth annual Okaz Fair in Taif.
The tent, extending over 3,876 sq. meters, consists of a large hall to accommodate 3,061 chairs, halls for lectures and events in addition to an office room and support facilities.
The tent is part of the plan to reconstruct the Okaz Fair from historical and tourist perspectives. The tent will enable staging of new programs such as lectures and poetry sessions.
Meanwhile, a source said the opening function of the fair would include leading cultural personalities and intellectuals from the Kingdom and other Arab countries.
The number of visitors to the fair in 2011 was estimated at 157,228 people, registering a 9 percent increase compared to the previous year with a daily average of 15,723 visitors, a report of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities’ information and research center read.
The visitors that flocked to the fair were mainly from 41 towns and cities around the Kingdom and outside. Thirty-six percent of the visitors were from Makkah and 24 percent from Jeddah.
The study also found that during the 10 days of the Okaz fair, 78 percent of visitors to Taif only wanted to attend the fair, while 12 percent went to see relatives and friends, 6 percent wanted to view tourist locations and 4 percent was looking for jobs.
