More than 500,000 people visited Jeddah during the school recess, filling up hotels and resorts in the city, an official from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in Makkah, told Arab News on Monday.

"More than 70 percent of the visitors came from various parts of the Kingdom. The rest from other Gulf counties and those who came to perform Umrah," said Mohammed Al-Omari, executive director of the SCTA.

The tourists also spent time at various coastal resorts at the Corniche and north Obhur. This resulted in heavy traffic on many of Jeddah's highways.

The city had placed all its safety and security personnel on alert to cope with the unusual influx of people. Coast guard officers rescued five girls after they got into trouble in a no-swimming zone on the beach.

In preparation for the holidays, the Jeddah traffic department had earlier drawn up a plan to facilitate the flow of traffic inside the city, especially near large shopping centers, the old town and historic area.

The Civil Defense deployed various rescue teams across the city to deal with emergencies. The teams checked safety measures at shopping malls and entertainment centers. The Jeddah mayoralty sent inspectors to monitor cleanliness on the Corniche, and deployed garbage collectors to keep the city and beaches clean. Most hotels and apartment buildings were more than 90 percent full and some facilities had to turn away tourists.

Many shopping malls presented popular plays and musicals to attract customers, with some giving away prizes of over SR100,000 in various contests.