1 2 SAUDI ARABIA PIONEERING AND LEADERSHIP By Khodr Saleh First published in 2001 by THE ARAB WORLD MEDIA CENTER – AUSTRALIA 3 In The Name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful SAUDI ARABIA PIONEERING AND LEADERSHIP Edited by: Khodr Saleh Updated Edition 2003 First published in 2001 by: THE ARAB WORLD MEDIA CENTER - AUSTRALIA P.O.BOX 766 RIVERWOOD NSW 2210 - SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA ISBN 0646400347 4 Preface By: Khodr Saleh The scene that the Arabic author Amin Elrihani discovered shortly after his first visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and his audience with King Abdel-Aziz, was unusual scene. It was as he expressed in one of his essays a total world that needs days and probably months to explore. It was probably similar to the scene I grasped few days after my arrival to Riyadh, the city I visited for the first time. I was invited by the invitation of the high committee chaired by the Governor of Riyadh, Prince Salman ben Abdel-Aziz, for the centennial celebration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before I go through the component of this world scenery, I must admit that I arrived to Riyadh holding only this holy vision which every Muslim carries since his birth, for the land of revelation and the birth place of the Prophet’ s mission and the home of the most noble the Prophet. Added to that another traditional vision spread by some media heavily clouded with vagueness and confusion about the land of camels and deserts that suddenly luck smiled on it with wealth and oil. I must admit that although my experience was limited in following this impression, with its accounts, exaggerations, and generalized assumptions about the domestic political system of the Kingdom, and the way of thinking of the Saudi people, and the manner they conduct their lives and behavior, it was clearly to me that this impression is false. It was probably fabricated by those who are biased politically and ideologically and motivated by predisposed assumptions, lack of objectivity and motivated by envy, hatred, and prejudice etc, My conviction was deepened by the observations and impressions that went through mind and my spirit in the few days I spend as guest and participant in its centennial celebration. I found myself visiting Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medinah. I moved between Najd and Hijaz. I met and held discussion with princes, personalities, intellectuals and down to earth people seeking factual accounts about the Kingdom and the eras it went through; these facts that were obscured through the changes, the directions of interests and concealing the truth. I discovered through my studies the true and intrinsic values the Saudi people hold. These values were not affected by the changes that took place nor it were affected by the fortune of oil and wealth. I noted their kindness and sensitivity, their passion for learning, knowledge and innovation. They followed progress in a manner that holds high the true values and preserved their established culture and history. They retained their simplicity and moderation that were intrinsic part of the There is no God but Allahز unification mission under the eternal banner of Islam that declares that This banner that was held by followers of the founder .سand Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah King Abdel-Aziz ben Abdel-Rahman Al-Saud on their way to reclaim the kingdom of their forefathers and ancestors a hundred years ago. This banner is still being carried by his sons who observe its laws and supported by the loyalty of the Saudi people. The importance of this impression I held during my stay in the Kingdom is that it coincides with the fundamental changes and achievements on the threshold of the third millennium in the political and economical arena as well as in the development and education. It goes side by side with the information revolution, globalization and the contemporary variables. In the same time they hold tight to their established Islamic identity, gains and values and responsibilities. Added to that I noted the attention and response of the Saudi public to the cultural activities, their participation, their creativity with poems, with painting, with books, seminars, with music and with dramatic arts, with their crafts and traditional handicrafts that were reflected in Jenaderia acvities. I would like before ending this preamble to address my appreciation to Saudi Arabia leadership and pioneering, and express my deep appreciation and thanks to those who supported and advised me and facilitated matters for me during my journey to Saudi Arabia. Without their help this book would not have seen the light. 5 New Doors to the Kingdom By : Peter Harrigan The general manager of Annakheel Village, a sprawling, palm-dotted beach resort north of Jiddah, al-Siddiqi is the organizer of this day's outing. For Qadi, manager of domestic tours for Saudi Tourist and Travel Bureau, it is part of one of the tours that his agency runs - in fact, one of about 30 such tours it has organized in the months between late 2000 and spring 2001. Working with foreigners who have come to Saudi Arabia neither to work nor to worship, but to sightsee and to learn, puts both men on the leading edge of a blossoming tourism industry. Now nearly two weeks into the tour, the group has clocked some 6500 kilometers (4000 mi), beginning in Riyadh, where its members toured the National Museum and the ruins of the former capital, al-Dir'iyah, and walked the suqs, including a camel market. They then zigzagged across the country on six domestic flights, visiting al jawf in the far north, Dammam, jubail, Hofuf and Qatif in the east and the Nabataean masterpiece of Mada'in Salih in the northwest. According to the itinerary, today is for relaxation: "a full excursion to the Red Sea, which contains one of the greatest coral reefs in the world, with over 200 species of coral." Internet consultant Jan Zastrow of Honolulu, Hawaii cannot wait for the anchor to drop so she can don mask, snorkel and fins. "I'm not an exotic destination junkie, and I've never even been a group tourist before, but this was the only way to get here," she says. For her, the trip to Saudi Arabia satisfied a curiosity that she developed two decades ago when she worked in the library at Columbus College in Georgia. "We received a lot of titles on Bedouin life and desert culture and 1 became fascinated by those images and descriptions," she explained. "But what really nailed my interest was that I could step out of the library and bump right into Saudis who had once led the life those books described, had moved out of the desert to towns in Arabia, and had gone on to become students in the States." Zastrow herself went on to a master's degree program in Arab studies at Georgetown University. A visit to Arabia, however, had to wait until last year, when she spotted an advertisement for the tour offered by California-based Distant Horizons, one of some 50 international tour operators now offering excursions to Saudi Arabla in partnership with 10 government - approved Saudi tour operators. This year, these numbers are expected to rise as travel companies in North America, Europe, Australia, Taiwan and Japan eye Saudi Arabia, and Saudi investors pump up what the kingdom hopes will become a significant, nonpetroleum part of the economy. Janet Moore, proprietor of Distant Horizons, calls the level of interest in Saudi Arabia "remarkable," and has four groups scheduled to travel there this year. These efforts are very new. The first full international package tour of the kingdom was organized in 1995, when Saudi Arabian Airlines invited one group of Japanese to see the rnajor sights on a two- week trip. "We learned a loi from thatinitiative, says Farouk Ilyias, tourism manager for the national flag carrier. The airline then began to "bring in selected groups from America and Europe." Yet properly speaking, the first Western tourists arrived on a day trip in 1992, when a Bombay-to- Aqaba cruise ship carrying alumni of Stanford University received permission to dock for a guided tour of the city of Jiddah. "That visit gave us a kick-start," says Peter Voll, who organized the cruise for Stanford and went on to found Peter Voll Associates (PVA), which specializes in educational tours worldwide and which ran its first all Saudi Arabia tour in 1999. For 2001, Voll has slated - and in many cases, already filled - 10 tours to Saudi Arabia, and he has scheduled stops at Jiddah, Dammam and Jubail for two international cruises. Last year, Japan still led the arrivals list with 661 tourists in 41 groups. Germany held second position with 566 visitors; the United States was a close third at 500, all of whom came under the auspices of university alumni associations, the Smithsonian Institution or the American Bar Association. The tourists' average age is over 65 and most are "retired professionals, educated and well-traveled, with money and leisure," explains Voll, who adds that, in the United States alone, "this is a half-billiondollar-a-year market of intelligent, sensitive, experienced and serious travelers. It is the most significant travel audience in the USA today." For this group, Voll says, "Arabia is the strongest market for the educational travel audience focusing on cultural and eco-tours. People want to come to Arabia. This is the last frontier of tourism, closed for years and now gradually, thoughtfully and carefully opening up." It also benefits, Voll contends, from being historically misunderstood in the West.