JEDDAH — The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) organized on Wednesday a workshop entitled “Sea tourism for ships and cruises” at Assila Hotel here in Jeddah.

The workshop aims at developing different tourism opportunities and ways to implement different programs and increase cooperation between different sectors.

The plan is to add the data of international tourists to the system before the ship or cruise arrives. They will also be given special routes other than those allocated to other passengers.

All trips will be scheduled and followed up. An evaluation system will also be implemented. Special passport department officials and custom department employees who are trained to work with tourists that will operate at seaports.

The Saudi Ports Authority will start mid-March to receive company offers to start tourism trips through ships and cruises. The trips will start from Diba port, which has the capacity of 6000 passengers followed by Yanbu port which can accept 4000 passengers.

Jeddah, however, which is a crowded port will be moved to the third stage and later Jazan port will also be on the list. — Fatima Muhammad