AlUla Reveals its Plans for Developing Tourism

AlUla is becoming more attractive to tourists. Reuters
AlUla is becoming more attractive to tourists. Reuters
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AlUla Reveals its Plans for Developing Tourism

AlUla is becoming more attractive to tourists. Reuters
AlUla is becoming more attractive to tourists. Reuters

Saudi Arabia plans to turn the historical city of AlUla in the northeast into an international tourism center that draws visitors interested in art and culture.

The Royal Commission for AlUla, the body tasked with developing and implementing sustainability initiatives, presented its plans for developing tourism at its natural reserves.

Members of the commission took part in a panel discussion at the Hospitality of Tomorrow virtual conference organized by Bench Events.

The participants said that the Royal Commission aims to attract two million visitors annually to AlUla, create 38,000 jobs, contribute 120 billion riyals (32 billion dollars) to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and protect AlUla’s historical and cultural heritage sites.

The conference was organized to provide a platform for discussion between stakeholders and leaders in the hospitality sector with the aim of speeding up its recovery by establishing the ties needed to build understanding and enhance relations and unity.

In the session, Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, Director of Museums and Exhibitions, and Heritage Consultant, Royal Commission for AlUla said that AlUla is an exceptional site that has had human existence for more than 200,000 years, and the successive civilizations that inhabited it left rich and diverse legacies that makeup AlUla’s rich heritage. "We have a new and important old story that we would like to tell its chapters; accordingly, preserving AlUla and protecting its treasures and its heritage is among our priorities.”

The invigorating role that arts play in the development of AlUla and bringing in the local community was also discussed, with Nora Aldabal Arts and Culture Programming Director, Royal Commission for AlUla saying: “Bringing attention to AlUla as a cultural center supports creativity and artistic exchange (...) in cooperation with international bodies such as Desert X, where artists had the opportunity to make exhibitions in the context of societies, making society an essential pillar of the experiment’s success.”

Neville Wakefield from Desert X stressed that culture is the center of communication, adding that they worked to attract artists from all over the world and urged them to participate in the discussion and establish channels of dialogue amongst themselves as they visited the natural sites of AlUla.



Prince Harry Is in Angola to Raise Awareness for Land Mine Clearing, Repeating Diana’s 1997 Trip

Britain's Prince Harry remotely detonates a landmine at a minefield during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust in Dirico, Angola, Sept. 27, 2019. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP, Pool)
Britain's Prince Harry remotely detonates a landmine at a minefield during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust in Dirico, Angola, Sept. 27, 2019. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP, Pool)
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Prince Harry Is in Angola to Raise Awareness for Land Mine Clearing, Repeating Diana’s 1997 Trip

Britain's Prince Harry remotely detonates a landmine at a minefield during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust in Dirico, Angola, Sept. 27, 2019. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP, Pool)
Britain's Prince Harry remotely detonates a landmine at a minefield during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust in Dirico, Angola, Sept. 27, 2019. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP, Pool)

Prince Harry visited the African nation of Angola on Tuesday with a land mine clearing charity, repeating a famous trip his mother made in 1997.

Harry, the Duke of Sussex, met with Angolan President João Lourenço on Tuesday at the start of his trip, according to a statement from the Halo Trust, an organization that works to clear land mines from old warzones.

Princess Diana visited Angola with the Halo Trust in January 1997, just seven months before she was killed in a Paris car crash. Diana was famously photographed on that trip wearing protective equipment and walking through an active minefield during a break in fighting in Angola's long civil war.

Her advocacy helped mobilize support for a treaty banning land mines later that year.

This is not the first time Harry has followed in his mother's footsteps by raising awareness for the Halo Trust's work. He also visited the southern African country in 2019 for a land mine clearing project. British media reported that Harry traveled to Angola this week without his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

Halo Trust CEO James Cowan said in a statement Tuesday that he and Harry met with Lourenço to discuss continued demining efforts in Angola and thanked the president for his support for that work.

Angola was torn apart by a 27-year civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 2002, with some brief and fragile periods of peace in between.

The Halo Trust says there are estimates that around 80,000 Angolans have been killed or injured by land mines during and after the war, although there are no exact figures. The organization says just over 1,000 minefields covering an estimated 67 square kilometers (26 square miles) still needed to be cleared at the end of 2024.

Angola had set itself a goal to be land mine-free by 2025.