Features of National
National Tourism Development Strategy is a comprehensive planning project to achieve tourist development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Supreme Commission for Tourism is implementing that project according clear and systematic principles.
The strategy consists of three stages , the first stage is about setting up the strategy to develop and improve tourism during the coming twenty years. The other stages are devoted setting executive plans for the coming five years, and to present detailed principles to develop tourism in the different regions and implement the respective tourism plans.
The General Strategy Stage was designed in cooperation and discussion with the authorities concerned in both public and private sectors, it took complete fourteen months from Dhul Hijja 1421 H, to Safar 1422 H.
The General Tourism Development Strategy represents a significant foundational stage essential to acquaint people with the different dimensions of tourist activities, it is designed to prepare a valuable tourist strategy that will consider the privacy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia being the cradle of Islam, the land of the two holy mosques and the kiblah of all Moslems following Islamic principles and values. Most important of these values we find the Kingdom compliance with and adherence to Islamic teachings, conformity with community privacy besides the economic, social cultural and environmental feasibilities and the real and effective contribution to comprehensive development.
The stage of General Tourism Development Strategy was interested in identifying tourism vision in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, besides identification of tourist resources, markets and the potential tourist activity. The stage contained all the geographical dimensions of development, designing directions, quality assurance systems that insure good competitive standing in the tourist market. Besides it also covered many topics including accountabilities, determination of the organizational structure for tourism development and improvement of tourism climate.
The stage likewise handled topics appertain to human resources in tourism and other related sectors, it was concerned about identifying the effects of developing tourism both economically socially and culturally, pin point obstacles and find ways to overcome them.
This stage highlighted many facts such as viewing tourism not only as a target but a means to achieve national development, by nature tourism is highly complicated industry and is at its beginning stages in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tourism suffers specialization duplicity and contradictions of interests and hence it warrants systemic and executive planning to insure optimal utilization of places and potentials. It also calls for developing domestic tourism on the basis of studied principles considering all variables of tourist activities and development mechanisms.
It is worth mentioning that we should not consider tourism and tourist planning as an objective to achieve, rather tourism is a means to achieve comprehensive development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that will insure full utilization of tourist potential available, increase income, diversify production, find jobs for people enrich heritage, strengthen people belongings to community, environment culture and country as whole.
Valuable tourism is peculiar for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is based on different dimensions including dimensions common for the world tourism. The valuable tourism is distinguished for being balanced and is concerned with spiritual and human sides. It is an industry that adheres to Islamic principles and has economic social, cultural and environmental feasibilities to achieve high levels of attraction.
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