Saudi businesswomen have commented on the success of the Jeddah Summer Festival (Jeddah Ghair) in promoting domestic tourism. The festival with a series of exhibitions as well as entertainment and cultural events has attracted a large number of Saudis and expatriates to the city and has led to an increase in income for hotels, restaurants and shopping centers. “The rate of occupancy of hotels and furnished apartments is 85 percent on weekdays and 100 percent during the weekend,” said Madawi Al-Hassoun, a member of the board of the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry. She added, “We expect that the festival will bring three billion riyals to the city with much of it coming from domestic tourists.” Al-Hassoun emphasized that special services should be provided to tourists in order to promote domestic tourism. “It is very important to increase awareness of the importance of developing this sector. Meetings need to be held to discuss the issue and plans need to be developed to make domestic tourism a year-round activity. We need to establish information centers to promote domestic tourism at the Kingdom's airports and tourist sites,” she said. Ulfat Qabani, president of the Council for Social Responsibility at JCCI, said Jeddah Ghair was especially successful because it focused on activities and events that were of interest to women and children. Saudi businesswoman Aisha Netto said that “Jeddah Ghair successfully targeted all segments of society making it unnecessary for people to travel abroad for the summer holidays.” “We need these festivals to continue for the rest of the year featuring events for everyone – the young, the old, children, men and women,” she said, adding that “such events can play an important role in attracting tourists throughout the year, not only during the summer season.”
