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The Kingdom is teeming with important archeological sites that date back hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of years but low tourist numbers continues to plague the tourism industry. Experts argue that with continued development of tourism sites, the return on investment in the promising sector will be high.
“It is a sad thing that these archeological sites are not getting enough attention from global tourism companies,” said Dr. Talal Al-Shaban, professor of archeology and Islamic architecture, School of Tourism and Archeology, King Saud University.
“There are a lot of attractive sites in the country and many places have seen excavations with the help of global archeological excavation teams. The sites represent different historical eras and contain unique remnants.”
The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) is exerting great efforts to rehabilitate and restore tourism sites and make them ready for visitors and tourists, he added, noting that more efforts should be exerted to internationalize the sites.
Dr. Al-Shaban criticized schools in the Kingdom for their failure to organize fieldtrips to archeological sites so students can get acquainted with the importance of these sites. He lamented the low number of Saudi visitors to domestic sites and said a lack of unawareness of the historical significance of the country’s national heritage was to blame.
“We should explain to our children the importance of our archeological history and show them the sites so they grow up with a sense of pride in their heritage. I think the Ministry of Education should emphasize the importance of this issue in school curricula as well. We need a unified strategy to achieve this goal,” he said.
Low demand for domestic tourism
Dr. Hutoon Al-Fasi, professor of women’s history and a writer, agreed that while the SCTH is exerting a lot of effort to promulgate tourism, the number of visitors continues to be modest.
“All concerned authorities should work with the SCTH to tap all the resources of the tourism industry and build a strong infrastructure for tourism to thrive in the country,” she said.
One of the reasons demand for domestic tourism is low is because of the high prices of accommodation compared with prices in other Gulf countries. In order to market archeological sites and encourage citizens to visit them, experts say several steps must be taken.
First, services at gas stations and highway rest stops must be improved in order to encourage people to take road trips. Second, roads should have signs that clearly show the distance to archeological sites. Third, reasonably-priced accommodations should be made available along with high-speed Internet service.
Tourism guide Hatim Al-Jameel said the majority of visitors to such sites are non-Saudis who are eager to explore all the sites the Kingdom has to offer. While he agreed more needs to be done to encourage domestic tourism among Saudis, he also said foreign visitors can be a boon to the industry if tourist visa restrictions are relaxed.
“I believe we do not need to organize exhibitions abroad to introduce other people to our heritage if non-Saudi tourists cannot apply for a tourist visa to enter the Kingdom. I am sure that there are thousands of tourists who would love to visit the Kingdom and are willing to pay a premium to do so if they are allowed to enter the country on tourist visas,” he said.
