Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – The number of foreign tourists who visited the Kingdom between 2015 and 2016 reached more than a million, said Abdul Rahman Al-Jassas, executive director of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cultural Heritage Initiative.

“These tourists have spent three times more money in the Kingdom than domestic tourists,” he said while speaking to Al-Hayat Arabic daily. He said four million foreigners visited the Kingdom on cultural tourism during the same period.

Al-Jassas said thousands of foreign tourists visited museums, art and cultural exhibitions, tourism festivals and Islamic landmarks across the country.

Al-Jassas addressed an event named “My heritage is alive” organized by the National Museum in Riyadh to mark the World Heritage Day, which is observed on April 18 every year. He commended the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage for its efforts to preserve the country’s culture and heritage.

“Until recently there were little efforts to highlight and preserve the Kingdom’s heritage,” he said, adding that the coming years would witness greater efforts in the way of protecting heritage and educating people on the importance of preserving it.

He noted the special care given by Prince Sultan Bin Salman, president of SCTH, to every heritage site in the Kingdom. “Saudis are now proud of their great heritage and cultural landmarks,” he added.

Al-Jassas referred to the obstacles facing the country’s heritage industry and called for effective measures to overcome them.

Jamal Omar, vice president of SCTH for antiquities and museums, praised the government for its generous support to activities related to preserving national heritage.

“The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program for Caring Cultural Heritage comes as a major initiative in this respect,” he added.

The program was instrumental in bringing about quality change in antiquities, museums, built heritage and handicrafts in terms of preservation and development.

Omar noted the commission’s endeavors to protect national heritage and highlight its importance at international forums to project the Kingdom’s rich heritage and culture.

“We have registered four heritage centers as World Heritage Sites with UNESCO and efforts are underway to register more such locations in the country,” he explained.

Simon Murray, senior director of National Trust in UK, said Saudi Arabia is replete with heritage sites that cope with international standards and specifications, adding that they can be further developed for tourism and heritage protection.

Dr. Ismail Ali Al-Faheel, a heritage expert at UNESCO, spoke about the World Heritage Day and said it is observed all over the globe to educate the public on the need to protect national heritage and preserve sites of civilization in their countries.

“World heritage day encourages us to celebrate all the world’s cultures and to create awareness about important cultural monuments and sites and to espouse the importance of preserving world cultures,” Al-Faheel told the gathering.

Ibtisam Al-Wohaibi, director of heritage at Saudi Heritage Preservation Society, said her organization has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture and Information to record the Kingdom’s cultural heritage such as poems, customs and traditions and handicrafts.

She said the efforts to register Al-Qatt Al-Asiri with UNESCO took 23 months, which included workshops in the Asir region with the participation of NGOs.

Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, a traditionally female interior wall decoration, is an ancient art form considered as a key element of the identity of the Asir region.

“It is a spontaneous art technique carried out largely by women today in the community that involves decorating the interior walls of their houses, specifically rooms for visiting guests,” said Al-Wohaibi.

“Women invite female relatives of various age groups to help them in their homes, thereby transmitting this knowledge from generation to generation,” she added.