Turki Al-Dakheel

Al-Riyadh

SINDBAD is an imaginary character from the Arabian Nights. He was a sailor from Basra in Iraq who lived during the Abbasid era. He traveled by sea to a number of magical places. He made seven voyages during which he faced a number of horrors and difficulties that he was able to overcome.

I believe that the Saudi citizen has traveled more than Sindbad. Even one day’s leave will drive out millions of Saudis from their country to far away or nearby places.



Saudi Arabia tops the world in expenditure on foreign tourism. A local daily recently said that the average expenditure of a Saudi for a single outing is about $6,600, citing a specialized study conducted by a visa company on travel trends in 2013.



The Saudis surpass the Australians, who came second with an average spending of $4,118, with the Chinese in third place ($3,824). The study covered a total of 12,006 travelers from 25 countries. It said the average world cost for a single journey is $2,390, which may soon rise to $2,501.

I am not against traveling, which has many benefits, not only five as Imam Shafie said in his famous poem. However, the rising cost of traveling outside puts us face to face with a real economic worry. A logical question here is: Can we not spend some of these funds on domestic tourism? What hinders the channeling of part of these funds inside the country so that they benefit both citizens and expatriates?



If you ask any citizen why he travels abroad during his vacation you will receive simple answers. He will tell you that he will be looking for solid tourist infrastructure consisting of entertainment spots for families and individuals. He also wants to be free to hang out and enjoy his time.

Life has its own pressures and men need to rest and enjoy themselves from time to time. What I wish for is that the next tourism plans will take this issue into consideration.



All parties should come together to work out these plans and not leave it to a single government department. A single hand will never clap.



It is noteworthy that traveling outside is not restricted to wealthy citizens. Even the medium-income citizens travel to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Europe and East Asia. This is a God-given right to everyone. We, however, hope that domestic tourism will have a strong infrastructure based on services that will satisfy not only the Saudi tourist but the European one as well.