Summer tourism: Taif never had it so good

JEDDAH: The tourist accommodation centers in Taif and its surrounding areas have experienced the best season in terms of activity in a decade. The investments in this sector have achieved huge gains in the summer this year due to the unusual spurt of tourists.
The moderate weather in all parts of Taif led to a huge rush at tourist spots. Visitors from across the Kingdom and other Gulf countries came to the resort in a bid to escape from the baking summer heat, according to an online newspaper.
The number of tourists and visitors to Taif increased this summer to 3.5 million. Those who work in the tourism sector consider it a sign of tourism boom in the Kingdom's summer resort. They also look forward for more investment in the sector.
The Al-Radf Park built over a half million square meters received almost 2 million visitors in just one month after its opening. Almost all tourist spots of Taif has seen huge rush this summer after many years. The traffic and security police made an extra effort to deal with the increased traffic, which resulted in bottlenecks many time in the last couple of months.
The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) in Taif, in its report, has said that it has issued 318 licenses for new tourism accommodation facilities, including hotels, apartments, villas, residential units, travel agencies and guides.
Abdullah Al-Sawat of the SCTNH in Taif, said that the commission was making all efforts to develop the accommodation sector in the area by increasing the number of hotels and residential units to match the number of tourists visiting Taif, which has become a major tourist attraction.
The region needs more hotels and tourist residential units, he said, adding that there were more investment opportunities in hotels in Taif now than it was earlier.