JEDDAH: Umrah visitors have been making sightseeing visits to Jeddah, Taif and other cities after their religious trips to Makkah and Madinah, as part of a drive to encourage tourism in Saudi Arabia.

A number of visitors from Turkey, Indonesia and Bangladesh visited the Jeddah Corniche and talked with Arab News.

Asif Kabir, who came from Bangladesh with his wife to perform Umrah, described the Rahma Mosque as quite amazing. He was impressed at seeing a number of Umrah visitors who also came to visit Jeddah, especially the famous Jeddah Corniche.

Another pilgrim from Indonesia, Abdul Razak, said that he enjoyed the visit to the Kingdom to perform Umrah, visiting Jeddah after the religious tour of Madinah and Makkah.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) aims to provide Umrah visitors with the opportunity to visit additional valuable and distinctive tourism sites to enjoy their social, cultural, natural and economic dimensions.

Majid Shudi, general director of media and public relations at the SCTH, told Arab News that the commission is doing everything possible to enhance tourism in the Kingdom.

He explained that SCTH recently introduced a special program for Umrah visitors under the name Umrah Plus.

The program includes the Umrah pilgrimage and a visit to another city of the Kingdom through licensed tour operators.

He said the program started recently, and tour operators in the Kingdom are gradually offering packages to visitors, city by city. Right now, they are starting with Jeddah and Taif, and cities that are nearby Makkah and Madinah.

However, the program will gradually broaden and visitors will be offered visits to more distant cities.