RIYADH: The Riyadh Summer Festival 2011 will be held from June 29 to July 28, Majid Al-Hokair, Chief of Tourism and Festivals Committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) announced at a press conference in Riyadh Tuesday. Engr. Saad Al-Moajal, RCCI Vice-Chairman, was also present at the launching of the annual festival this year. Al-Hokair said this year Riyadh Summer Festival, known among the tourists for shopping and other leisure activities, will feature some unprecedented cultural, recreational and economic activities designed to meet the expectations of various segments of the society. “We expect about four million visitors from within the Kingdom and other GCC states to visit the Riyadh Summer Festival,” he said. About three million visitors had visited last year's festival, he said. Al-Hokair dubbed Riyadh as “Capital of Festivals,” because of a series of cultural events, including Janadriya National Festival for Heritage and Culture and other similar activities organized by Riyadh Municipality the whole year round. “Riyadh, because of its cultural and economic activities is a very unique city, which cannot be compared with other Saudi cities,” said Al-Hokair. UNESCO named Riyadh as “Cultural Capital of the Arab world” in the year 2000. Al-Hokair said about 1,000 companies dealing in various tourism-related activities will participate, making the summer festival a livelier event not only offering fun and frolicking for children but also a number of cultural events and huge discounts for shoppers. Riyadh Summer Festival for Shopping and Leisure is supported by Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). The basic idea of the event is to promote Saudi culture, national tourism and economic activities, he said. Engr. Al-Moajal said the festival is expected to help boost economic progress and promote national tourism in the country. “One of the most important aims of Riyadh Summer Festival is to highlight the tourism characteristic of Riyadh, which qualifies the city to be a great tourist destination in the region,” he said. He urged the media both print and electronic to support for the success of the event. “The media play an important role for the success of any national activities, and help a great deal through dissemination of information that reaches to the general public,” he said. He said Riyadh has developed infrastructure in tourism sector that includes world-class recreational facilities. Besides, tourism gets the support of both public and the private sectors, which forms one of the most important pillars of success in such events in the Kingdom. A preparatory committee has been formed to receive feedback and suggestions from different stakeholders of the festival and to make the event a grand success, better than last year's, he said.
