RIYADH — The Saudi Geological Survey revealed the historic caves nominated to be part of the official touristic attractions, in cooperation with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

The official spokesman of the Geological Survey, Tariq Aba Al-Khail, said in a statement that they intend to “refurbish several caves as a first phase, to become tourist attractions as part of activating ecotourism in cooperation with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.”

He highlighted that some caves are over 30 million years old. Geological Survey specialists rediscovered these caves after conducting detailed studies to know how suitable the caves are for ecotourism.

Aba Al-Khail asserted that by discovering more than 250 caves, Saudi Arabia is witnessing a noticeable growth in ecotourism, that’s in addition to the thousands of undiscovered caves.

The head of the caves department at the Geological Survey, Mahmoud Al-Shanti, considered these caves as a national wealth that combine several rare scientific ecotourism factors.

He said that they “should be protected and preserved”, adding that these caves are vital to academic studies and scientific researches, in addition to the tourism. — Al-Arabiya English