It is no doubt that Madinah is an incredible tourist destination, full of historical and regional sites for people to visit.
Therefore, the tourism ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation chose Madinah as the Capital City for Islamic Tourism in 2017.
This was decided at the cooperation’s tourism minister meeting in Niamey. In 2013, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had picked Madinah as the Islamic the Culture Capital of the Arab Region for 2013.
The reason for choosing Madinah was that many projects have been set to launch for the development of Madinah worth nearly 500 billion riyals. Some of these projects are:
- Expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque at 70 billion riyals; aiming to cover an area of 456,000 sq. meters.
- Dar Al Hijra housing and services project at 55 billion riyals.
- The Haramain high-speed rail project for Madinah at 10.76 billion riyals.
- Building of Knowledge City at 35 billion riyals.
- Expansion of the Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Airport at 6 billion riyals.
- Construction of a sports stadium at 1.5 billion riyals.
- The Noble Qur’an Oasis Museum project, a museum that is set to be built as a cultural site.
In addition to the above, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has held the 3rd Forum of National Urban Heritage, Handicraft Forum, Private Museums Forum and other tourism festivals in Madinah.
Sources: daralmadinahmuseum.net
