Saudi Arabia opens its doors for group tourism

Dubai: In line with the plans of the Supreme Tourism Commission and its operating arm, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), the Kingdom has launched a massive investment programme into touristic facilities, hospitality and hotel management training as well as cultural festivals to attract visitors.

On occasion of the opening of the Saudi pavilion on the Arabian Travel Market 2009 fair, SCTA vice president for marketing and media affairs Abdullah Bin Salman Al Jehani emphasised the "vast and accelerated development process in tourism" in the Kingdom and the "perfect investment climate based on political stability, economic prosperity and international confidence."

Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Secretary-General of the Supreme Tourism Commission and president of the SCTA, has outlined the country's touristic development plans in a strategy scheme earlier, which includes the construction of several multi-million-riyal touristic sites.

According to the Prince's predictions, there would be 45.3 million tourists visiting Saudi Arabia by the year 2020 with an accumulated expenditure of about 80 billion riyals (Dh78.37 billion).

To achieve this, the country has to provide 50,000 hotel rooms and 74,000 housing units, the strategy paper says. Up to 2.3 million Saudi nationals could be trained and qualified for work in the tourism sector.

According to Al Jehani, the SCTA has signed 17 new contracts worth 20.5 million riyals in the first quarter of 2009 with Saudi companies to implement a number of touristic projects. Among them are the maintenance of the Ebrahim Heritage Palace in Al Hafouf and several feasibility studies for new investment opportunities and staff training.

The transport infrastructure of the Kingdom is well equipped for a large number of travellers, with five international and 22 larger domestic airports. The King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah is currently being upgraded through several project phases and expected to reach 30 million passengers per year by 2011 and 60 and 80 million passengers, respectively, in the two consecutive five-year periods. The overall investment amounts to four billion riyals.

The touristic areas of Saudi Arabia currently comprise the coastal areas of Jeddah in the West and Dammam and Al Khobar in the East. Inland, areas of natural beauty such as Taif, Al Baha and Abha are expected to attract foreign tourists, as well as the Unesco heritage site of Madain Saleh in Diriyah and other places of cultural and historical significance.

All of them can be visited by small groups of foreign tourists accompanied by tour guides.

The ambitious projects have attracted interest in Western countries, especially Europe. Travel agency Studiosus Reisen based in Munich, Germany, has recently announced its first-ever round-trip programme to Saudi Arabia, a 13-day guided tour called "Saudi Arabia The cradle of Arabian culture", says spokeswoman Karin Graf.

Another travel agency, Gulliver's Reisen based in Vienna, Austria, is now offering an 11-day trip to Saudi Arabia's heritage sites, including land trips in air conditioned Jeeps and a sea trip on board of a luxury yacht along the Red Sea coastline.

Participating female travellers will be handed over an abaya, but its use is not mandatory, the travel agency says. Another travel agency offering trips to Saudi Arabia is Tai Pan Touristik, also based in Vienna.

Austrian Airlines has recently launched direct flights from Vienna to Riyadh and Jeddah. Besides that, Riyadh is served by a number of international carriers, among them British Airways, Air France, Air India, Lufthansa, Singapore and Swiss as well as by many Middle East-and East Africa-based airlines.