Saudi Gazette report
MADINAH – Guided tours are still being organized by unlicensed people in the Prophet's City violating the ban imposed by the authorities.
Some companies and individuals organize trips to archeological sites in Madinah City in flagrant violation of the pertinent regulations, Al-Madina newspaper said in a report.
Alarmed tourism experts have called for developing the historical, religious and tourist sites of the city in line with the Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to support and bolster the religious tourism sector. A large number of pilgrims and visitors in Madinah love to visit farms and Al-Bayda Wild Park, north of the city. Some unlicensed trip organizers take advantage of the situation and provide trips to the farms and the parks despite constant warnings.
Muhammad Al-Bijawi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, said the ministry is very keen to regulate guided tours in Madinah and issue more licenses to tourist guides.
“The ministry bans these unlicensed trips in order to protect pilgrims and visitors from falling victim to fraud or against being overcharged for such trips. Unfortunately, some citizens circumvent the regulations and use their own vehicles to transport the pilgrims to tourist and religious sites,” he said.
Col. Salah Al-Harbi, director of Madinah Traffic Department, said all buses not licensed by the General Vehicle Syndicate to organize such trips will be impounded.
“We adopt a strict position regarding such trips because the ban on them is clear. We have set up various checkpoints at different locations, especially on roads leading to the farms,” he said.
Al-Madina daily reportr visited the Al-Bayeda Wild Park and saw 13 unlicensed buses parkinged nearby. These buses transported pilgrims and visitors to the park although bus drivers knew they were violating the law.
Fuad Al-Maghamsi, a Madinah historian, criticized this negative practice and described it as unfair to licensed tourist guides.
“We have licensed tour guides who are professional and who have worked hard to get the license. It is not fair that some people who do not have such license get away with violation. Authorities should regulate this sector and restrict tourist guides services to licensed tourist agencies,” he said.
Abdullah Kaber, an expert on Madinah history, said a licensed tourist guide knows the Prophet’s biography very well and has accurate information about many of the events that took place in the Islamic history. Most of the unlicensed tourist guides know little about the history and the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him), which means that they might mislead pilgrims and visitors and make them form a wrong idea about something.