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(Arab News), 9 June 2007 - The Supreme Commission for
Tourism (SCT) has started issuing group visas through tour operators for
foreigners intending to visit the Kingdom, according to a senior official.
Ahmed Al-Eissa, director
general for licenses and quality at SCT, said tourist visas could be
obtained for a maximum period of 60 days. “Generally visas are issued in
accordance with the tour program,” he added.
Spelling out the conditions
for obtaining tourist visas, he said tourists should come in groups of not
less than five members. The minimum age for women to get visas is 30 if
they are not traveling with their close relatives, he added.
The Kingdom has started
receiving tourists who come by shipping lines.
“Tourist ships intending to visit the Kingdom must
coordinate with organizations licensed by the commission,” Eissa told
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
Shipping lines should
provide the SCT with information such as the names of tourists, passport
numbers and the tour program.
A tourist ship carrying 121
Germans visited the Kingdom last month. Representatives from the SCT,
Foreign Ministry, the Passport Department, Border Guards and the Saudi
Ports Authority received them on arrival at Jeddah Islamic Port.
During a six-hour tour of
Jeddah, the Germans visited the Corniche, the Fatima Mosque, Old Jeddah,
the open museum, Qabel Street Market, Al-Alawi Souk and other tourist
attractions in the city.
Saudi guide Samir
Al-Qamsani said the German tourists also visited a number of historical
sites in Old Jeddah, including the Naseef House, Wali House and Madloom
Bakery, one of the oldest in the Kingdom.
The SCT has been linked
with the Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry with a computer system in
order to facilitate issuance of visas. The new system also allows pilgrims
coming for Umrah to obtain tourist visas through tourism offices.
The SCT has decided to
issue tourist visas through licensed tour operators as part of its efforts
to attract 1.5 million tourists a year by 2020, excluding the millions who
come on Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Presently there are 18
licensed tour operators bringing foreigners on tourist visas to the
country. In the absence of licensed tour operators, Saudi Arabian Airlines
was given the authority to bring in tourists from different parts of the
world under its “Discover Saudi Arabia” program.
The SCT has been making
tremendous efforts to strengthen the Kingdom’s tourism sector by carrying
out various projects. It plans to establish advanced tourist cities on the
coasts of Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf.
The tourism sector, along
with Haj and Umrah services, currently contributes six percent of the
Kingdom’s GDP or SR55 billion ($14.6 billion) annually.
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