Dammam airport ‘lacks strategy to attract tourists’

DAMMAM: All Saudi airports, particularly King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Dammam, lack a tourism attraction strategy which requires a formal decision from the government, said Saeed Al-Qahtani, an investor in the tourism sector.
He said: “In an attempt to avoid the difficulties faced at the Dammam airport, tour operators select the Bahrain airport to receive tourists, especially because of the difficulty in obtaining visas and delays there which lead to the reluctance of many tourists to visit Saudi Arabia.”
Mohammed Al-Hussaini, general manager of Dhahran International Exhibition Co., said: “Dammam airport suffers from the lack of dedicated places for receiving tourists, in addition to the scarcity of trips launched from there. Most companies specializing in the sectors of exhibitions, conferences, resorts and residential units are looking for a solution to overcome these difficulties.”
Al-Hussaini said that Dammam’s location among Gulf capitals is supposed to give it a similar importance, but this can be achieved only by exploiting all its possibilities, including free locations to receive tourists, exhibitions for productive families, crafts, heritage and land tourism, camping and various sports.
Commenting on these complaints, Yousef Al-Dhahri, KFIA director general, said: “The airport management does not put any obstacles in the way of tourism investments and tour operators.”
He said the airport gave exclusive privileges to a company to provide reception and farewell services for tourists and visitors for the Eastern Province, and organize trips to and from the airport, but the company did not meet the required terms, and therefore its contract was canceled.
Al-Dhahri said that the airport is now preparing to announce an investment tender among several companies to develop reception, farewell and tour organizing services, along with other investment projects planned by the airport, including the development of free-market services and services provided for airport visitors in the internal and external lounges.