The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), which celebrated World Tourism Day on Sunday, said that it is working on the implementation of several projects aimed at improving the quality of tourist services in the country. SCTA's head, Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, said the state considers tourism to be an integrated, developmental economic project. He noted the Cabinet's approval of a number of decisions related to the continuation of the state's support to the SCTA and the sector in general. This, he said, is due to the economic importance of the tourism sector and its ability to create job opportunities at all levels. The SCTA chairman said that the commission was undergoing an important restructuring as a result of the issuance of new regulations which have taxed it with new responsibilities related to antiquities and museums, tourist investment, tourist housing, trip organizers, travel agencies, tourist guidance and other sectors. He said that work is underway to create a qualitative improvement in those sectors. Prince Sultan said the present situation of tourism in the Kingdom is very different than it was in 2001, when the sector was relatively unorganized with no clear foundation. “Now we have covered about 90 percent of the sector's institutional organization and infrastructure,” he said. “It's time to test our programs and the changes that have taken place in the sector and benefit from our experience and from databases that are available today.” Since the state approved the tourism development strategy in 2004, the SCTA has been coordinating with private and public bodies and has focused on communication with the public aiming to implant the culture of tourism. – Okaz/SG SCTA focused this year on allowing different regions of the Kingdom to play a major role in developing tourism which includes antiquities and museums. Fourteen regional tourism development councils have been established throughout the Kingdom. This is in addition to the establishment of 14 tourism development bodies and 45 offices responsible for antiquities.
