Saudi Arabia's new tourism commission is reshaping the kingdom's image to
attract non-Muslim tourists to visit the birthplace of Islam. A new marketing
strategy offers foreigners an experience in a "radically different
culture" for those who could bare the soaring desert heat and the ban on
alcohol.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA REUTERS -

The desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, renowned as the birthplace of
Islam, is reshaping its image as a travel destination for international
tourists, highlighting its religious and cultural uniqueness along with its
diverse topography.
Attracting tourists to a desert country where temperature hits 115
degrees, alcoholic drinks are not allowed and two of its famous cities are
off-limits to non-Muslim, could pose a great challenge, but the new Saudi
tourism says it could facilitate the change.
From its air-conditioned headquarters in the capital Riyadh, the Saudi
Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has developed a new strategy to
expand the country's tourism industry.
In a country almost totally dependent on oil, tourism was identified as
a potential market which could diversify its economy. The commission put
forward the efforts to invest in road building and transport facilities and
improve human resources and manpower in tourism-related businesses. The plan
is consistent with the kingdom's religious, social, cultural and environmental
values, SCTA said.
The tourism commission was established a few years ago and is headed by
Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud. A former fighter pilot
and space shuttle astronaut, he has brought tourism to the forefront of
national development.
"We have intention for the development of tourism resources, not
only in the development of local tourism market, but also the development of
the tourism market from the Gulf or Islamic countries. It's currently not
intensive but you can count on this market to grow because in the future it
will bring in international tourists," said Fahad al-Jarboa, Assistant
Deputy Secretary-General of Marketing Department at SCTA.
Saudi Arabia attracts some two million foreigners annually, but the
vast majority are Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, the birthplace of Prophet
Mohammed. Mecca and Medina, Islam's second holiest city, are banned from reach
of non-Muslim visitors.
With the eyes of the Muslim world looking at Saudi Arabia as the cradle
of Islam, the commission had to offer a tourism development plan which
incorporates Islamic values and principles, al-Jarboa said.
"Of course, the Kingdom remains an Islamic country that is proud
of its Islamic traditions and therefore we will not be providing the things
that are incompatible with our Islamic customs and traditions, and I do not
think tourists who come to the Kingdom are looking for this, because it exists
in other places. We offer an original tourism experiment that is based on
traditional Arab hospitality," he said.
Alongside religion and culture, Saudi Arabia also offers diverse
scenarios across its vast territory. Covering an area fourth the size if the
continental United Sates, Saudi has plenty of desert -- including the vast
Empty Quarter in the south -- but there also are mountains, valleys and Red
Sea beaches with turquoise water known for some of the world's finest diving.

The country also is rich in archaeological sites, including the
spectacular tombs and dwellings carved into sandstone 2,000 years ago by the
Nabateans, the same lost civilization that created Petra in neighbouring
Jordan.
With much of the country's wealth invested abroad, SCTA's new strategy
is partly aimed to see some of this money invested within the country, in
hotel building, road construction and other facilities for tourism. The
commission hopes that tourism development will create more jobs, bring down
unemployment rate, and will keep residents, specially school graduates,
working in the country.