day long Jeddah Ghair festival, which began with fanfare on June 30, generated revenues of more than SR3b billion boosting the city's economy. The festival, which came to a close at the weekend, was visited by over four million domestic and foreign tourists, Prince Abdullah Bin Saud, Chairman of the Tourist Committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said. Prince Saud is also head of the festival's organizing committee. More than 50 government and private establishments, including the JCCI, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and the Jeddah Municipality participated in the festival which featured over 200 activities. “The festival has greatly contributed to creating an active tourist culture in various areas in the city including markets, malls and amusement parks,” Prince Saud said. The Jeddah festival, he said, has topped all tourist activities in the Kingdom. He said the participation of a number of government and private bodies in the festival was proof of the teamwork spirit needed to organize such activities. Mazen Batterjee, Deputy Chairman of the JCCI, said the economic and tourist sectors were the main beneficiaries of the festival. He called for giving more attention to tourist projects of an amusement and cultural nature and said the festival gave a strong boost to the city's economy. “The event's sponsorship of the JCCI, the home of businessmen, gave a new momentum to the economic movement of the city,” Batterjee added. Adnan Mandourah, JCCI Secretary General, described the festival as the largest and most successful in the city's history and said its activities covered all districts of the city. Mandourah expected the tourist sector and the festivals to be among the most important economic sources for Jeddah in the coming few years and said tourism in the Kingdom is growing fast and the sector was expected to provide job opportunities to more than 90,000 people in the coming three years. He said Jeddah is hosting a number of developed tourist facilities including hotels, furnished apartments, resorts, restaurants, museums and others. “The festival has played a great role in the flourishing of tourist investments in Jeddah,” he added.
