Abdullah Al-Nimri Arabs discovered the potentiality of Taif market well before hundreds of years when they gathered there and engaged in both commercial and cultural activities. Even the people of Makkah pumped investments into this city by building houses and gardens for their families besides bringing a portion of their businesses to this city. Since that time until now, the salient features that make Taif attractive are more or less the same. Precisely speaking, these features have now become more attractive. I am not exaggerating when I say that I don't know the yardstick to carry out financial or technical feasibility studies about making investments in Taif. There is a general impression among the people that Taif is only a seasonal tourist destination and this perception impacted the city's economy negatively, though not intentionally. I can say that such an assumption is made without highlighting potential investment opportunities that abound in this tourist city. This image is an obstacle for the inflow of investments into Taif as well as for attracting more industrial and commercial investments. This has even produced negative impact on the services being extended to its local residents as well as to visitors to the city. Similarly, some economic and tourism reports and articles that appeared in the local newspapers also focused on the seasonal significance of Taif. They highlight the visit of three million tourists to Taif in a year because of its attraction in terms of eco tourism or environmental tourism. In contrast, the reports do not concentrate on the need to boost investments, trade and pioneering business activities of Taif as a permanent market. These reports do not give any prominence to the fact that Taif is a major Gulf city with more than one million people living on an area spreading over 87,000 sq. mms that consist of 75 districts and more than 2,000 villages. Unlike many other cities, Taif is in need of more health, educational, tourist and housing facilities and consumer services. This would favor investment opportunities with an inflow of both domestic and foreign capital. The geographical features and weather conditions of Taif have made it one of the most important regions in the Gulf with regard to renewable energy projects, especially windmills. This will reinforce the existing power transmission lines in addition to strengthening the Gulf and Arab power grid projects. In addition, Taif has been a military city since ages. It is located away from geopolitical conflict regions. All these have enabled it to become a Saudi and Gulf strategic reserve for energy, water and foodstuffs. One of the important places for Haj and Umrah pilgrims to enter in the state of Ihram (meeqat) is situated in Taif. This underlines the significance of Taif in the religious tourism map too. The move to use Taif airport to transport Haj and Umrah pilgrims from most of the GCC states and the Asian continent would be a further boost to the local economy and development of the region. This would also help ease the heavy traffic at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz International Airport as well as on the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway. The proximity of Taif to Makkah would contribute to strengthening cultural tourism and business tourism. Setting up of exhibitions for heritage and Islamic antiquities in the area outside the Haram boundary between Makkah and Taif would be a great step in this regard. This will also strengthen Taif's economic position. Taif is looking forward to the support by the government investment funds to implement vital projects in the sectors of mortgage, financing, real estate developing, tourism, energy, mineral and consumer industries, and other strategic projects and investments. These funds should support and contribute to the development projects in Taif. I also invite investors from within the Kingdom as well as from other GCC states and the rest of the world to come forward to investment in Taif so as to massively develop this major tourist destination. — The writer is a Saudi business development researcher. He can be reached at:[email protected] and followed on Twitter: @alnimri
