RIYADH — An unprecedented boom is being witnessed in the Kingdom's domestic tourism sector and several other associated economic sectors with a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases. The resumption of domestic tourism activities coincided with the gradual return of normal life after a decline in cases of the pandemic following a three-month lockdown and the beginning of the annual summer season. Most Saudis and expatriates who usually travel outside the country during the summer vacation preferred to opt for domestic tourism in the wake of the temporary suspension of international flights to and from the Kingdom since March. This has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the domestic tourism sector that is witnessing a fast recovery along with its associated economic sectors. According to reports, there has been a huge flow of tourists to five cities in four different regions since the beginning of August. However, this did not cause for a second outbreak of the pandemic, thanks to the strict precautionary measures and preventive protocols taken by the local authorities. These cities are Tabuk, Al-Baha, Asir, and Makkah. A large number of tourists also are flocking to other major destinations such as the Red Sea coastal town of Umluj, summer tourist attractions of Taif, Abha, Al-Baha and Al-Namas. The Ministry of Tourism and the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) launched last June the "Saudi Summer" season initiative titled "Tanaffus" (Breathing), which runs from June 25 to Sept. 30, to attract Saudis and expatriates to various tourist destinations across the Kingdom. The ministry's studies at that time showed that there are about 80 percent of citizens and expatriates preferring to opt for domestic tourism during and this was attributed to several factors, including confidence in the health measures that are being enforced in the Kingdom to deal with the pandemic, in addition to the presence of several attractive tourist destinations. The Saudi Summer season has emerged as a real breathing and boost for the tourism industry, which was the worst affected sector during the coronavirus lockdown period. There has been huge turnout for a wide variety of programs and plans organized by STA to promote domestic tourism with an equal emphasis on both the coastal and highland tourist destinations. These programs have proved to be an entertainment fiesta for the citizens and expatriates to enjoy the amazing natural wonders, richness of cultural landmarks and historic and heritage sites across the Kingdom. Since Aug. 1, five major tourist destinations are recording low number of corona cases compared to their population, in addition to the flow of tourists from various regions of the Kingdom. The number of corona cases reported in these cities from the beginning of this month until Friday, Aug. 21, differs from one city to another, but none exceeded 50 cases on a daily basis. Umluj, famous for its beautiful white sand beaches and pristine waters, recorded daily between 22 and zero cases while Al-Baha, which has picturesque natural scenes, was close to the same number and there are some days without any cases in this city. Al-Namas, which is also distinguished by its mountainous rural nature, recorded between 15 and zero cases per day. In Taif and Abha, which are the most populated of these five cities, the daily cases range between five and 50. The figures showed that the infection rates are maintaining a declining trend, which confirms the flawlessness of the precautionary measures that have been implemented since the beginning of the complete lifting of lockdown and opening up of domestic tourism sector. Moreover, since the beginning of this month until Saturday, Saudi Arabia was recording a decrease in the number of active and critical cases, as the active cases in the beginning of this month were more than 37,000 while the critical cases were at around 2,000. As of Friday, this number decreased to about 24,000 active cases and less than 1,700 critical cases.
