JEDDAH: Prince Mish'al Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, inaugurated the first Local Tourism Exhibition, which aims to encourage citizens and expatriates to visit the Kingdom's different cities and archeological and religious sites. The opening ceremony of the event, which opened Monday at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, and includes three days of workshops, included a local folklore dance, Hijazi Majass, performed by Hashem Baroom, a folklore band. The exhibition includes more than 200 companies involved in local tourism, which set up their stalls across an area of 4,800 square meters. The event will include workshops organized by Prince Sultan Faculty for Tourism on tourism convoys, tourism marketing, how online marketing can promote tourism, disseminating and promoting a culture of e-tourism, e-marketing and promotion of Saudi local tourism. The event is organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mazen Batragi, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said its role in the exhibition is to overcome obstacles facing those interested in investing in local tourism and supporting tourist facilities throughout the country. Jeddah was chosen as the site of the exhibition because of its offerings for visitors and to show that the city excels at hosting a diverse range of large functions, said Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Amri, Executive Director of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities in Makkah Region. “Because of the many tourist choices in Jeddah, we have selected it to host this event and we wanted to assure the world that Jeddah is ready to organize any events at any time of the year,” he said. He said that 36 percent of flights in the Kingdom are to Jeddah and that five million tourists visit the city every year. Okaz Organization for Press and Publication is the media sponsor for the event.
