Saudi Arabia approved more than SR26 billion ($6.9 billion) of tourism projects under the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program (NTP) on Sunday, according to reports.
The funding will go to existing development projects in the pipeline as well as new efforts to preserve Saudi Arabia’s heritage sites, of which many are seen as underdeveloped and inadequately protected.
Saudi Arabia’s historic sites are largely unvisited by non-Saudis.
Previously, Saudi Arabia allocated roughly $1 billion toward efforts to preserve its heritage in its plans to reform the industry, “but after decades of neglect, and in some cases deliberate destruction, saving its cultural treasures will prove complex and expensive,” writes Angus McDowall in Reuters.
Saudi Arabia’s heritage sites span from border to border, from dwellings in the mountainous As’ir region to mud villages in the Saudi desert, to the old city in Jeddah on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. While saving and rehabilitating these sites will prove to be expensive, doing so may pay off if Saudi Arabia opens its borders to tourists to see Saudi history.
“Encouraging visits to local places of beauty or interest is a key goal and Saudi Arabia has some world-class sites, some in remote areas, that are all but unknown outside the kingdom,” McDowall writes.
The restoration of historic sites may also be a boost to national pride for a country whose latest oil boom has ushered in an era of rapid modernization.
The recently announced $6.9 billion within the NTP “supports and builds on several initiatives, such as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program for the Care of National Heritage and Culture, and allocates funding to develop national heritage and culture sites and programs, including 17 handicrafts centers, 18 heritage sites, 18 museums, 80 historical sites, and six new UNESCO heritage sites,” Arab News said.
“Other initiatives include programs for lending to hotel, tourism and heritage projects, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, to the tune of SR3 billion over five years. Interest-free loans will be provided to investors working in tourism projects. A tourism marketing council, to be founded with private sector participation, will manage and develop a range of tourism products, activities and marketing tools to support the sector, including exhibitions and conferences. Funding will be provided through tourism fees collected from clients by hotels.
“A Saudi holding company for development and tourism investment will oversee the establishment of special entities to develop and attract further investment for the sector. Other initiatives include post-Umrah trips to heritage and Islamic sites,” according to Arab News.
