‘Let’s Go to Jeddah’ festival begins today

JEDDAH: The sixth “Let’s Go to Jeddah” shopping festival begins on Jan. 10 at the city’s Red Sea Mall.

The festival will last for 30 days until Feb. 11 and 150 activities will be distributed geographically throughout the province, targeting visitors and residents of Jeddah.

It is run with the participation of Jeddah municipality, King Abdul Aziz International Airport and the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage, under the direct supervision of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).

“Let’s Go to Jeddah” will combine shopping, entertainment and tourism and aims to attract visitors from different parts of the Kingdom or from abroad, and allow Saudis, Gulf families and residents to enjoy the giant marketing event.

A press conference at the JCCI on Tuesday was attended by secretary-general of the chamber, Hassan bin Ibrahim Dahlan; the director general of the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage in the Makkah region, Mohammed Al-Amri; the director of exhibitions and events at the JCCI, Mohammed bin Abdulrahim; and the general manager of marketing at the Red Sea Mall, the main sponsor of the festival, Mohammed Assiri.

Dahlan said: “The festival has promising elements to revitalize the tourism sector such as hotels, entertainment, resorts and the retail sector. It is one of the most attractive sectors for domestic and foreign investment because of its infrastructure and strong growth potential.”

Al-Amri said: “The number of tourists will increase by 20 percent in Jeddah over 2018, and the city will have the largest turnout of people because pilgrims will be able to turn their Umrah visas into tourist ones.”

He added: “We have also started working with tour operators to have marketing packages for the city of Jeddah in the coming period.”

Dozens of major marketing centers are participating in the festival, which includes promotions and competitions with SR2 million ($533,340) available in prizes.