The call of the President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) Prince Sultan Bin Salman for developing tourism infrastructure facilities and services in the Kingdom is to be welcomed. He emphasized while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the second session of the Saudi Forum on Travel and Tourism 2012 in Riyadh that Saudis should be discouraged from visiting foreign destinations during their vacations. There is an economic aspect to what Prince Sultan said together with a regret that this country's rich cultural heritage remains untapped and unappreciated by many Saudis. Enormous amounts of money are being spent by Saudis visiting foreign countries. This could be better spent at home boosting the economy and creating more job opportunities for Saudis. But this can only happen if we succeed in creating an awareness in the minds of the people about the importance of the economic and cultural aspects of tourism. As it is, this fast-growing sector has 26 percent Saudization and employs seven percent of all Saudi jobseekers, according to experts who attended the Riyadh session. Its contribution is seven percent of general revenues. According to one expert, there is a great deal of spending taking place in the sector. Domestic tourism figures are likely to consist of 84 percent locals and four percent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens. SCTA, under the dynamic leadership of Prince Sultan, has been playing a crucial role in promoting domestic tourism in the Kingdom. The private sector has to supplement his untiring efforts. As Prince Sultan pointed out, improving local tourist facilities and organizing various programs would help realize enormous economic benefits and contain the outflow of wealth to foreign countries. More important, this would also be instrumental in creating more job opportunities for citizens in the tourism sector. Tourism is one field where locals enjoy enormous advantage over expatriates. But we should realize that an appeal to nationalist sentiments, however well expressed, will not make citizens stay in the Kingdom to spend their vacations. We need to establish a series of first-class hotels to make cities like Jeddah with its old houses attractive destinations to locals, Gulf citizens and others. Being a gateway to Makkah, Jeddah is already an attractive destination in terms of religious tourism, but there are other centers which can attract domestic tourists for their cultural and historical value. With the efforts of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities tourism can become an attractive sector for many investors. Prince Sultan does not believe in promoting tourism simply for economic reasons. Equally important is the development and preservation of the country's rich heritage. Saudi Arabia is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of tourism assets, but, unfortunately, the full extent of the country's cultural dimension is not well known outside a relatively small circle of academics and Middle East specialists. However, failure to regulate tourists can result in the destruction of a country's cultural heritage. But the way Makkah and Madina which attract millions of visitors every year are kept clean shows that the Kingdom has an unmatchable record in preserving religious, cultural and historical sites. __
