Thursday, 24 January 2008: RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has more number of archaeological sites than the rest of the world combined and millions of Britons would like to visit the Kingdom if procedures in issuing tourist visa are simplified, said Nigel Turner, Chief Executive Officer of bmi, a UK airline and member of Star Alliance. Turner was speaking at a press conference in Riyadh Wednesday to announce the launch of bmi's new Dammam-London route from March 15.
Britons would want to come to Saudi Arabia because the two Kingdoms are linked with history, he said.
Saudi Arabia offers excellent tourism attractions filled with history and heritage sites, Turner said.
"The country has diving sites along the well-developed coast at Red Sea besides areas of natural beauty," he said.
Saudi Arabia is a center for Muslims for religious tourism, which a large number of British Muslim community is visiting every year, he said.
Despite all such attractions, it is still difficult for the tourists to visit Saudi Arabia, he said.
Turner was the guest speaker at recently concluded Global Competitiveness Forum GCF2008. He said he made a presentation highlighting the visa issue for the potential tourists that want to visit Saudi Arabia.
He said the people appointed at diplomatic missions are required to be pro-tourists and pro-visitor, serving as quick facilitators.
bmi was launched in 2005 after the British Airways pulled out its operations from Saudi Arabia. Since then the airline is known for providing budget flights in the Middle East and other international destinations.
Turner said the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) is working hard to promote the country's tourism and bmi is ready to support their efforts.
"I met Prince Sultan Bin Salman, the SCT chief, in two separate occasions and held long meetings with him, conveyed the bmi's support for Saudi Arabia's tourism promotion," he said.
Turner described Prince Sultan as a go-ahead personality, who wants to educate the people about Saudi Arabian tourism industry and how the infrastructure is being developed in the country.
According to Turner, the Saudi tourist visa issued for those international tourists who come in groups would not work because some like to come in groups while others don't.
"My parents may like to come in a group but if you ask me, I would prefer to come individually," he said.
There are two types of people flying to Saudi Arabia, the businessmen often from the US and UK, and the second category is religious tourists, he said.
However, the introduction of Dammam-London Heathrow flight would basically target the businessmen as the Eastern Province has a lot of business activity and presence of Saudi Aramco is an added advantage. So it would initially target the businessmen.
More interest for tourists would be in Jeddah and Riyadh areas, and - of course - Makkah for religious tourism, he said, adding that bmi will continue three flights to London Heathrow weekly from both Riyadh and Jeddah.
"Saudi Arabia is a huge market, which is under-served," he said.
The British people like any other Westerner have a world to choose from. They have tourist destinations such as America, Scandinavia, Africa and a lot easier places in the Middle East to visit, he said. For instance, if a tourist who wants to visit Cairo can get a visa "say within 10 seconds," he said.
You can imagine the conversation that goes on among the passengers before booking a seat as tourists, who discussed whether they should go to Saudi Arabia or Cairo, the latter would be the popular choice simply because of easy ways in getting visa. So, to attract the tourists Saudi Arabia needs to simplify visa procedures, he said.
By Shahid Ali Khan
© The Saudi Gazette 2008
