Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — At the time when local bodies are working on enhancing domestic tourism, many Saudi families have already made plans to travel to different destinations for the mid-year break. Dubai remains on top of the list of preferred destination for the year 2012-2013 said Yaseen Hammad who works for a travel agency. According to him, there are other destinations that Saudis head to including, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait. Hammad added that there is a rise in bookings to these countries. Lebanon however is not attracting any families. The volatile situation in the country has put many Saudis off. “Only families or individuals who have strong ties to that country go there; no tourists are considering Lebanon at the moment.” Meanwhile “Haya Jeddah”, a mid-year festival is seeking to attract over 1.5 million visitors. The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), which is making arrangements for the festival in cooperation with different government bodies and private sector, hopes to persuade Saudis to stay in the country and spend their tourist dollars. JCCI General Secretary Adnan Mandoura said that various bodies are making plans for the ‘Haya Jeddah' Festival, which he said will help “boost the tourism and shopping sectors.” The festival includes discounts, entertainment activities and art works presented at the beach. Some 206 centers are expected to participate in this festival. Abdul Ghani Al-Ansari, head of the tourism committee at Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said that business owners in Madinah focus mainly on the visitors coming from abroad and give no attention to internal tourism. “Unfortunately the hotel businesses do not give encouraging packages to visitors coming from inside the country. They rent the room for visitors from Saudi cities for SR400 and would give the same room to foreign visitors for only SR150! We implore the hotel owners to start targeting the locals,” explained Al-Ansari.
