Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — The tourist bus project, which was launched in Jeddah on March 29, 2017, has failed and the investing company sold its buses, local Arabic daily Al-Watan reported on Sunday quoting informed sources.

The sources said a number of reasons were attributed to the failure of the project including a lack of seriousness on the part of investors, the unfeasibility of the project and the absence of foreign tourists.

The sources said the failure of the project was also due to the fact that a large number of Saudis still do not have the culture of domestic tourism, the fact that the project was not publicized enough and the lack of multi-lingual tourist guides.

They said the project was launched on an experimental basis for a period of three months.

The sources said the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) initiated a number of tourism projects including the launching of tourist buses.

Mohammed Al-Nifaie, deputy chairman of the committee on tourism and entertainment in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), believes that the absence of foreign tourists was the main reason behind the failure of the project.

“People who come from outside use tourist buses to visit tourist spots and historical sites. But since there are no tourists coming from abroad, the project has been a failure,” he said.