Over 1,000 business outlets including travel agencies, furnished apartments, starred hotels and recreation companies will take part in the Riyadh Summer Festival, due to kick off next Wednesday. The month-long festival aims at promoting domestic tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is one of the most important tourist destinations in the Kingdom because of its historical importance. A number of landmarks attract tourists from around the Kingdom and other GCC countries,” Abdurrahman Al-Jeraisy, Chairman, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), the organizer of the annual event, said. Over the years, he said, Riyadh Summer Festival has emerged as one of the remarkable events in the Kingdom, “first by the blessings of Allah and untiring efforts exerted by Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to promote domestic tourism.” We will try our best to meet the expectations of all segments of the society making the summer vacation more enjoyable,” Al-Jeraisy said in a statement to the (Saudi Gazette). e said the success achieved during the previous such festivals has promoted greater participation that in turn will witness increased economic activities. According to statistics from SCTA’s Center for Information and Tourism Research, the domestic tourists are expected to spend about SR10.4 billion this year, an increase of 31 percent compared to previous year’s SR8 billion. This is due to the opening of hotels in different tourist spots in the country.