Prince Charles, on official visits to Saudi Arabia, usually takes private time
out to enjoy the delights of life in the desert which have inspired some of
his water-colours. He has a long-standing relationship with the Royal Family
and is popular in the Kingdom because of his interest in Islam, inter-faith
dialogue and support for some Arab causes.
As such there is no better embodiment of the type of tourist Saudi Arabia
eventually hopes to attract: well-heeled, interested in the country’s
people, culture, archaeological heritage and wonderfully varied landscape.
And, of course, happy to give one’s liver a holiday as well: alcohol is
forbidden in the Kingdom.
Developing tourism, a relatively untapped sector of the economy, is a major
ambition of the Saudi government which views it not only as a means of
increasing revenue but of boosting employment and improving understanding of
the Kingdom which is simultaneously ultra-modern, ancient and unique.
Reflecting the importance given to this sector, the government in 2000
established a supreme commission for tourism (SCT), at ministerial level.
Prince Sultan bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz was appointed its secretary general.
He has done some impressive travelling himself: in 1985 he flew aboard the
US space shuttle Discovery as a payload specialist. Chairing the SCT is
another high-level appointment, Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the
Second Deputy Prime Minister.
A five year master plan backed by huge investment has been approved, numerous
focus groups organised and the help of foreign consultants, including
Britons, enlisted. With Saudi tourism in its infancy, a whole service
culture needs to be developed together with a properly integrated airport
and transport system. More hotels will be built, tour guides trained and the
handicrafts industry encouraged.
Most Westerners come on a business visa which, like a tourist visa, requires
official approval and advance planning. But there are plans to issue tourist
visas for non-Muslims. "The Saudis would look at Britain as a potential
market for the high end [well-heeled] who want heritage sites because of the
historical connections," a British diplomat in Jeddah says."The
early travellers, like TE Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger wrote a lot about
Saudi Arabia and the adventure element appeals to British tourists."
Both men were captivated by Saudi Arabia’s unique landscape and the
hospitality of its people. Giving a traveller a warm welcome is an integral
part both of Islamic and Arabic attitudes, an enduring trace of a nomadic
past.
But the immediate focus is on domestic tourism and capitalising on the two
million Muslims that visit annually from around the world for the Hajj
pilgrimage: Islamic and other sites around the vast country are being
prepared to encourage the latter to prolong their stays. Much work is being
done to ensure the many sites have back-up facilities to cater for tourists.
There is also potential in including Saudi Arabia in regional tours that
involve established tourist destinations such as neighbouring Jordan. A test
programme will be run this year linking Petra, Jordan’s prime tourist
attraction, with ancient Nabbatean sites in Saudi Arabia. Health tourism is
another target area, with ambitions to capitalise on the Kingdom’s first
advanced medical system and numerous hospitals.
"Over the next 20 years, we expect to attract at least 1.5 million
foreign visitors a year. We want these to be high-spending, well-organised
and cultured tourists,” Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz says.
Image has been a problem, officials acknowledge. The September 11 attacks
generated much unfavourable publicity in the West which was later compounded
by sporadic terror attacks in the Kingdom that the government is confident
in now firmly under control.
"The real face of Saudi Arabia is not the same as the face of the country
that is portrayed in the media and the US and in some newspapers in the UK,"
Prince Sultan says."Saudi is a friendly country and Saudis are
naturally hospitable and welcoming."
Tourism, he adds, will reflect the real face of the country."Saudi Arabia
is going through a change. We will be and are becoming more open to all
parts of the world. Saudi Arabia’s image was hijacked by the people of
September 11."
Dusting off, restoring and enhancing the country’s countless archaeological
and heritage sites is another priority. The SCT has so far documented some
1,700 archaeological sites, more than 140 historical sites and nearly 200
others related to the Prophet Mohammed.
The government recently allocated SR300 million to restore the ruins of
Dir’aiyah, the first capital of the Al-Saud clan which is the Kingdom’s most
popular and easily accessible archaeological site, just north of Riyadh.
A group of 25 municipal officials from Saudi Arabia were in Tuscany recently
to study how Italians restored their historical sites and cities. The SCT is
working with British and Canadian companies on developing the Kingdom’s
museums and has launched a major national initiative to promote the crafts
industry.
The SCT and the Al-Turath Foundation, a non-profit organisation established to
preserve antiquities, recently announced that there would be a bi-annual
prize to promote awareness of the country’s architectural heritage and the
importance of preserving it.
Domestic tourism is already on the rise as more Saudis spend their holidays in
the Kingdom, many because they felt less welcome in the West, particularly
in the United States, after the September 11 attacks.
"Tourism will allow us to open the doors for our own people and allow
them to truly experience their own country," Prince Sultan says. Aiming
at seventh per cent annual growth in this sector, programmes are being
launched to promote adventure and sports tourism targeting the Kingdom’s
substantial youth population.
Sports tourism is also a big attraction for Westerners in Saudi, in particular
the spectacular diving on the unspoiled Red Sea Coast with its coral reefs.
Enthusiasts maintain that the waters here are the most beautiful in the
world, home to a wide variety of spectacular fish. There is an easily
accessible coral reef close to the beach at Jeddah, while less heavily dived
and even more spectacular reefs can be reached by a boat journey of an hour
or two from the coast.
The diving easily compares with that in the well developed Egyptian resort of
Sharm el-Sheikh, but in Saudi Arabia they remain so far a mainly untapped
resource, although Jeddah has several dive centres.
"A lot of work is being done developing destination resorts for a package
holiday where you go to a holiday village that will be on a grand scale with
everything you need, a bit like Palm Island in Dubai," a European
diplomat in Jeddah says.
Jeddah itself, a city of contrasts with a population of 1.5 million, has a
wonderful display of the Kingdom’s heritage in its Old Town, home to great
souks and palaces where, in sight of modern buildings, the visitor is
catapulted into the past.
Even older is the rock city of Maidan Salah near the holy city of Madinah
which is perhaps the country’s most impressive archaeological site with
tombs carved into the rock by Nabatean masons some 2000 years ago.
Asir National Park in the south-west takes in a huge area of mountains and Red
Sea coast. The park includes the deserted village of Habalah, which appears
to dangle from a 300-metre cliff face above terraced fields and the oasis
town of Najran, a site that has been inhabited for 4000 years whose souk is
regarded as the best in the country to buy silver Bedouin jewellery.
Riyadh, the Saudi capital, is home to the National Museum and has a lovely Old
Town that has remained relatively unchanged for centuries, where the Musmak
Fortress, a palace and the Great Mosque are well worth a visit. An excursion
to the "camel trails" along the escarpment south of Riyadh offers
beautiful views of the desert. Other popular day-trips from the capital
include Irq Rathimah, famed for its red sand dunes and an ancient burial
site and for large sand dunes, there is Dahna Sands, near the town of Rumah,
just 75 miles north of Riyadh.
There are also advertising programmes to inform Saudis of the advantages of
the tourism and the employment potential of the sector. "We feel that
as many as 2.3 million jobs related to tourism will be created over the next
20 years," Prince Sultan says. The SCT plans to secure partners in the
private sector for training people who will be employed in tourism.
Foreign investors will have the opportunity to become involved in the
development of the tourist infrastructure. "We are keen on foreign
investment as tourism is a new industry here and foreign investment has a
lot more experience in developing tourism industries," Prince Sultan
says.
The SCT, itself, a new organisation, says it reflects the changing, more open
face of a country that is reforming. More than 40 per cent of its intake is
from the private sector, bringing in fresh ideas and new blood. "We are
one of the top five trainers of our people in the country," Prince
Sultan says. "We invest in young, smart and well-educated people. We as
an organisation are hiring more women. We have almost 100 women working here
now. This is a new age for Saudi Arabia."
