Tourism & Hospitality | Saturday 30 May, 2015 10:39 am |

In a major initiative to promote geo-tourism, a niche market with considerable growth prospects at the global level, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) organized a trip for trainees from the sector in order to help diversify domestic tourism.

Geo-tourism has a distinctive feature that links the act of viewing the beauty of the geological and geomorphic features with the appreciation
of these features through the gaining of knowledge that combines the enjoyment of a site’s beauty with an intrinsic value of the site.
An SCTA spokesman said Thursday that the department of programs and products organized the tourist trips in an effort to introduce the “mountain tourism route” in Asir, Baha and Taif and shortlist tour operators and service providers.
He said that 31 trainees took part in the trip, which lasted for three days and involved tour operators, tourist guides and event operators, aiming to introduce them to the potentials of the mountain tourism route on the ground, and to exchange experiences between the participants in the trip and tour operators, tourist guides and tourism service providers.

“Mountain tourism route” is a mountain belt located in the western part of the Kingdom and extends from Yemen to the Gulf of Aqaba, spread over 1,550 km in terms of length. It is considered a distinguished tourism destination during the summer season due to its mild temperature and the beauty of its relief, along with the diversity of its heritage towns along the route.
The official noted that on its first day that was spent in the Asir Province, the group visited Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar Park, Moftaha heritage village and a number of landmarks in Abha, Tanoma municipality, Al-Namas, Al-Namas Museum, Al Elyan heritage village, Sabt Al-Alaya and Sabt Al-Alaya Museum.

On the second day in the Baha Province, the group visited Aqabat Al-Baha, Shada Al-Aala, Sahda Al-Asfal and a number of mountainous caves in the region, in addition to Dhi Ain historic village and Ragdan forest.
On the third day, the group went to the resort city of Taif, where, they first visited Abdullah bin Abbas Mosque and its neighboring cemetery, a popular restaurant in the center of Taif and one of the oldest rose factories before attending the summer events launch ceremony.

The trip was arranged under the framework of development and improvement of tourism programs within the Kingdom, and to allow the opportunity for tour operators to explore new tourism routes, as well as to inform the participants about the attractive tourism sites that can be visited in the mountain tourist route.

Notably, the SCTA works with its partners in the public and private sectors to develop a number of tourism routes in the Kingdom in an effort to promote the quality of tourism products and diversity of tourism options in the interest of visitors.

Earlier, the SCTA joined hands with the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) to develop geo-tourism by reviewing the list of geological sites under consideration and to work out a comprehensive formula to enable new trends in tourism in the Kingdom.