SAUDI ARABIA

‘Concept of tourism emerged from Asir while Khaled Al-Faisal was emir there’

July 09, 2020
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in a virtual session with Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Khateeb and other officials of the ministry.
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in a virtual session with Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Khateeb and other officials of the ministry.

Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH —
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, affirmed that various governorates of Makkah province enjoy great tourism potentials and natural diversity that are instrumental in enhancing tourism development in the region.

He made the remarks during a virtual session with Minister of Tourism Ahmad Al-Khateeb and other officials of the ministry.

Prince Khaled spoke about the experiment of launching the concept of tourism for the first time in the Kingdom, which started from Asir while he was the emir of that picturesque southern mountainous region.

Going down memory lane, he recalled how tourism was the catalyst in bringing about economic development, especially qualitative development of the region at that time.

He drew attention to the beginnings of tourism in the Asir region and the difficulties faced mainly because of the lack of acceptance of the concept of tourism by the society of that time and the efforts made to change this mentality.

“During the reign of King Faisal, a Saudi-American committee was formed and that committee toured all regions of the Kingdom. It was instructed to establish a national park in Asir and that was more than four decades ago, and this project, which was the first of its kind in the Kingdom, formed the nucleus of tourism in the region,” he said.

Prince Khaled said that creation of a supreme commission for tourism was first mooted at a symposium, held in Abha more than 20 years ago. “It was Prince Sultan who took the recommendation and submitted it to the Council of Ministers,” he added.

For his part, Minister Al-Khateeb praised the pioneering role of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal in establishing the concept of tourism in the Kingdom through launching it from Asir when he was the emir of the region and thanked him for the support and constant follow-up to all tourism projects in the region.

Then, Prince Khaled listened to a briefing on the plans and programs of the Ministry of Tourism for the governorates of the region during the current “Summer of Saudi Arabia” season with the theme of “Breathing.”

A series of tourism events will be held in Jeddah, Taif and King Abdullah Economic City of Rabigh as part of the event that aims to discover the multiple tourist destinations and their historical, natural and cultural treasures.


July 09, 2020
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