A press conference was held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce on Monday to discuss details of the tourism and entertainment forum in Jeddah that begin on Oct. 9.
The press meeting was attended by Prince Abdullah bin Saud, chairman of the Tourism and Leisure Committee and the chairman of the forum; the secretary-general of the chamber, Hassan bin Ibrahim Dahlan; the director general of the General Authority of Tourism in the Makkah region,Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Amari; and representatives of the General Authority for Entertainment in the Makkah region.
The Jeddah Tourism and Entertainment Forum, sponsored by King Salman, and Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, will be held over the course of three days at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, and will be attended by more than 30 experts and specialists. Eight scientific sessions and a number of workshops will be held to address the most important challenges facing investors in the tourism and entertainment sector in the Jeddah area.
Prince Abdullah said during the conference that the tourism sector will lead all other sectors contributing to national income in the coming years.
The forum will be held under the auspices of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), the General Entertainment Authority, Jeddah University and King Abdul Aziz University.
The tourism and entertainment forum, which is being held for the first time in Jeddah, will focus on the diversity of the Saudi tourism product from marine and desert tourism, adventure, fishing, exhibitions and conferences.
The conference focused on the city of Jeddah, and how special it is compared to other Saudi Arabian cities because it occupies a coastal area.
With a sea coast extending about 1,800 km on the Red Sea, the Jeddah Chamber can play a key role in increasing the number of tourism activities that will help diversify the tourism product and enhance the status of the Jeddah city
Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Omari, director general of the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage in the Makkah Region, said that “the tourism and entertainment sector is capable of providing more than 1 million jobs according to official statistics.”
Official figures confirm that 300,000 jobs will be provided directly in the tourism sector, and 800,000 jobs in support of tourism and entertainment, he added
“The opening of King Abdul Aziz International Airport in the middle of 2018 will help increase tourism traffic to the city of Jeddah dubbed the ‘Bride of the Red Sea,’” Dahlan said.
The “Tourism after Umrah” program will allow people of more than 65 countries to recognize the additional tourism components in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dahlan added.
“We would also like to attract the attention of those who are interested in investing in the flourishing tourism sector in the Kingdom,” Prince Abdullah bin Saud concluded.

Source: Arab News