Saudi's Jeddah old town regains glory as the Grand Prix lures tourists
JEDDAH: When Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Jeddah hosted Formula One star Lewis Hamilton and US singer Jennifer Lopez during its Grand Prix this month, visitors found they were also drawn to a less obvious attraction - the historic old town.
Jeddah is known for being the kingdom's modern commercial hub, and the exodus of its merchant class meant its old town had fallen into neglect.
The kingdom's ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy and make itself less dependent on oil, however, has included revitalising culture to lure tourism revenue.
Visitors who came for the F1 event found they loved the slower pace of the restored old Jeddah.
Saudi more than doubles 2030 foreign tourism target: minister
Known in Arabic as al-Balad, the Town, has the feel of previous centuries with its Arabic-styled wooden architecture in brown and blue colours that reflect the city's location between the sand of the Arabian desert and the sea.
'It's my first time in Saudi Arabia and the old city is very beautiful with earthly tones… and has a very particular architecture,' said Rossella from Milan. Al-Balad was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2014. Since then, the government has accelerated plans to restore about 650 buildings and revive the district's local businesses.
Fadil Zahir, 57, was born in the old town and works as a barista there.
'Tourists and visitors are coming to al-Balad in great numbers,' he said.
UNESCO cited historic Jeddah as 'the only surviving urban ensemble of the Red Sea,' where coral stone tower houses adorned with Roshan wooden balconies stand alongside mosques as old as the advent of Islam, when the third Caliph Uthman bin Affan declared the city to be Makkah's official port.
'I am 62 now, I now see what I could see 40 years back. You talk about changes, I say it's actually going back to the original,' said Ahmed Alkhanbashi, a general manager at Alkhanbashi Business Development Bureau.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Bomb threat diverts plane of hajj pilgrims in Indonesia, second in days
This handout photo taken and released on June 21, 2025 by Indonesian Air Force s Quick Reaction Forces Command (KOPASGAT) shows a military serviceman (front 2nd R) riding on a tug pulling luggage near a Saudia aircraft at the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, after the plane was diverted following a bomb threat. Photo: AFP Listen to article A plane carrying hundreds of hajj pilgrims back to Indonesia from the Middle East was diverted Saturday after a bomb threat, the transport ministry and police said, the second such incident in a week. Saudia Airlines flight SV5688 had flown from the Saudi city of Jeddah to the Omani capital Muscat before travelling on to Indonesia where it was due to land in Surabaya, a city on the main island Java. But air traffic control officers in the Indonesian capital Jakarta received a call about a bomb threat for the flight, prompting its diversion to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan city Saturday morning, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. Read More: Domestic Indian flight makes emergency landing in Nagpur after bomb threat Regional airport authority head Asri Santosa said in a statement officers were checking the plane after its arrival but the airport on Sumatra island remained operational. All 376 passengers, hajj pilgrims from Java, and 13 crew members were safe at the airport, North Sumatra police spokesman Ferry Walintukan told AFP. He said a bomb squad was deployed to sweep the aircraft. The passengers are due to resume their journey on Sunday, said Asri. On Tuesday a plane carrying 442 hajj pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia to Jakarta was also diverted to Medan after an email bomb threat was sent to authorities.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Major Gulf markets decline as regional conflict escalates
Major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Thursday amid investor jitters over potential US involvement in the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital while President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.2%, dragged down by a 0.4% fall in Al Rajhi Bank and a 0.6% decrease in oil behemoth Saudi Aramco. The Saudi index is on course for its biggest weekly fall in over two months. However, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal-backed airline Flynas advanced 3% to 79.60 riyals per share, a day after falling over 3% on its debut. The airline, which sold a 30% stake to investors in the first IPO by a Gulf airline in almost 20 years, was priced at the top of its range at 80 riyals per share. Dubai's main share index declined 1.3%, dragged down by a 2.4% slide in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 2% retreat in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank. Most Gulf markets in red as Israel-Iran conflict escalates Elsewhere, budget airliner Air Arabia was down 1.6%. In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%. Overnight, the Federal Reserve held rates steady as expected but retained projections for two quarter-point rate cuts this year. The Fed's decisions impact monetary policy in the Gulf, where most currencies, including the riyals, are pegged to the US dollar. The Qatari benchmark fell 0.8%, with Qatar Islamic Bank losing 1.6%.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business Recorder
Gulf states on Iran's doorstep scramble for end of war
DOHA: As Iran and Israel trade strikes and the US weighs joining in, wealthy Gulf states on the conflict's doorstep are engaged in frantic diplomacy to halt the war — but solutions remain elusive. A spillover of the conflict or the Iranian government's collapse are both worrying outcomes for the energy-rich region, which hosts several major US military bases. Peace and stability have been central to the rise of Gulf powers including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are pivoting their economies towards business and tourism. Hoping to avert the crisis, Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has been talking to Iran and the United States since 'day one', Ali Shihabi, an analyst close to the royal court, told AFP. 'But it does not look promising that something will happen very soon,' he added. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler, and the UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have both spoken to Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in recent days. The Emirati president also held a phone call on Wednesday with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Iran, who offered to mediate in the conflict. Israel's launching of the war scuppered Oman-brokered talks between Tehran and Washington that were supported by Gulf nations, who have been pursuing a detente with their giant neighbour after years of strained ties. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's 'unconditional surrender' and warned it could easily assassinate its supreme leader, fuelling fears of American intervention. Hours later, the UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the Gulf country's president had 'conducted intensive diplomatic calls... to de-escalate tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading'. Sheikh Abdullah warned against 'reckless and miscalculated actions that could extend beyond the borders of the two countries', in a strongly worded statement published by the official WAM news agency. Trump had initially urged Iran to come to the negotiating table, but an official briefed on talks said Tehran told Qatar and Oman that it 'will not negotiate while under attack'. Oman, Iran's traditional intermediary, said it was engaged in diplomatic efforts as the daily strikes continue. Meanwhile Qatar, a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war and a negotiator with Iran in the past, has also been 'engaging daily' with the US, its foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani warned on X that 'it is not in the interest of the Gulf states to see Iran... collapse', adding that they would be 'the first to be harmed' by the war's repercussions. An Arab diplomat told AFP: 'Everyone in the Gulf is going to say we are better off making sure we have a deal with Iran, a diplomatic solution with Iran.' Shihabi, the Saudi analyst, echoed the sentiment, saying the best outcome was 'obviously an agreement between Iran and (the) US'. Diplomatic intervention by Saudi Arabia, once a fierce critic of Iran, comes two years after they restored ties. The UAE, which recognised Israel in 2020, has also patched up relations with Tehran since 2022. 'Whereas the Saudis may have once called for 'cutting off the head of the snake', their approach toward Iran has shifted dramatically,' said Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. However, 'the Arab Gulf states have almost no ability to shape Israel's or Iran's behaviour or influence the outcome of this war,' he told AFP. 'It is difficult to see how Israel's military campaign against Iran, whose objectives seem to have quickly metastasised from eliminating Iran's nuclear and missiles programmes to overthrowing the regime, ends well for Iran's Arab Gulf neighbours,' Alhasan added.
