The World Tourism Organization said the deserts is a good environment for tourism activities. And in a country like Saudi Arabia with its vast geographical area, investing in desert tourism sector can be very lucrative.
Despite the efforts the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to encourage all types of activities, more need to be made so that large desert areas can start making money with opportunities to make them tourism resorts.
“Desert Tourism” can have many features including adventure, discovery, getting to know new animals and plants, in addition to off-roading, sand skiing, camping, etc. All this however requires investment.
Mubarak Al-Salamah, Hael SCTA director, said it is important that a joint partnership is reached between the government responsible for providing the basic infrastructure and laws and systems and the private sector which should provide the investments.
“It is important to transfer the agricultural projects into wilderness parks and sites and providing support for festivals that promote cultural heritage in the Kingdom as well as desert festivals and provide programs to attract young people through the presence of tour operators,” he said.
He said the deserts of the Kingdom could become staging areas for desert sports, rallies, horse and camel tours and sand surfing. “In the Hael area, there are trekking programs in sandy and mountainous terrains which can also be good for climbers and safari tours.
“We are working on an initiative to to push this kind of desert tourism forward through holding workshops and bringing the public and private sectors together,” Ali Al Haji, Al Has a SCTA director, said.
Ali Al Essa, a desert tourism enthusiast, said this kind of tourism is extremely popular and foreigners who visit the Kingdom and the Gulf especially in winter and spring for the warm weather. ”Foreigners want to know of life in the desert, and I am 100 percent sure this kind of tourism will be a great success if only facilities like tents and bathrooms exist, even if they are basic amenities” he added.
Jaafer Sultan, safari team leader in Al-Ahsa, said the desert of the Kingdom is very attractive for tourists and it has two beautiful faces, in the day and in the night that gives you changing perspectives and these can be used for diverse tourism activities, sports and festivals. “The Al-Ahsa desert for example has the ‘yellow oasis’ which is the only one in east of the Kingdom and has “Sabkhat Al-Milhiyah” and “Ayoun Al-Maa” water which makes it more attractive,” he said.
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