The Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) will organize a trip to France for municipality officials. The aim is give them a first-hand knowledge of France in order to promote tourism, said Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz, secretary-general of SCT. "The trip has been arranged to activate the agreement between the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the commission which was signed last year," he said. This is the second trip organized by SCT in order to develop domestic tourism. The previous trip was to Italy. Prince Sultan Bin Salman made the announcement after meeting with French Ambassador Charles-Henri D'Aragon, Deputy Minister of Municipality and Rural Affairs Abdul Aziz Abdul Kareem and Saudi-French Business Council Chairman Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh. He emphasized the important role of municipalities in promoting tourism and described the municipality ministry as one of SCT's main partners. "The studies conducted by SCT have proved that the partnership between the tourism agency and municipalities is essential for the success of tourism," he explained. Arab News today quoted Prince Sultan Bin Salman as saying that the trip to France had been organized in order to develop the expertise and skills of municipality officials and help them learn more about planning tourist resorts and centers, protection of heritage sites and antiquities and increasing the beauty of cities, recreational centers and resorts. He said the trip would help Saudi municipal officials learn about successful tourist projects in France.
