Ibb Tourist Festival hosts large number of visitors

The activities of Ibb’s Sixth Tourist Festival continued  after the inauguration of the Environmental Awareness Fair and Forming Arts at the Cultural Center. Among its activities, the Teaching Week focused on the importance of tombs and mosques’ cleanliness. Ahmed Abdullah al-Hajri, Judge and Governor of Ibb Governorate, met various representatives of the media and expressed his pleasure with the show. In spite of the rainy atmosphere, he happily indicated that the show had positively contributed to invite tourists and a broad audience to assist to numerous and interesting activities. “The invitation was aimed at attracting tourists, people interested in the tourist sector and investors. In past festivals, the objective was to invite people concerned with the tourist infrastructure, but unfortunately, the infrastructure is still as it is, and it is sad to see that the organizers of these festivals do not solve the problem,” added al-Hajri. He stated that despite these critiques, there is an ambitious plan to build up public gardens, luxurious parks, museums, theatres, educational libraries and infrastructure that can host cultural, sport, artistic and scientific activities. In addition, there is a project to setting up studies for a number of spas and waterfalls to prepare and create foundations for a lot of sites that tourists visit.  

The Governor considered that the wide participation shows that the distance did not represent a special problem, for many visitors came from outside the governorate. The shows had given guiding pictures for many tourist locations and had embodied the governorate traditions of dressing, eating and others that tourists are interested in. 

Al-Hajri confirmed the negligence of the concerned bodies with archaeology. Ibb is the governorate that had hosted two states in ancient Yemeni history but many archaeological sites had been exposed to looting and devastations. “We call on the Ministry of Culture and the archaeology staff to take care of the archaeological artifacts the governorate stores. We, in our turn, have begun rehabilitating the museum composed of several buildings to keep and maintain the pieces we have got. Together with the Local Authority we all shall work together in corporation with backing organizations. We have held talks with some, and we hope to get the official bodies’ care and support, providing funds for Ibb National Museum, Dahfar Museum or the Archaeological area in al-Awd, as well as fortresses and castles,” explained al-Hajri. 

The Governor indicated that the governorate intends to build a tourist archaeological village, which will include folkloric heritage. He added that “coordination is running with the Ministry of Tourism concerning the preparation of a number of shopping markets as the main market in the city and others markets located at the main roads. This would be just the beginning then the other markets located within the tourist sites will provide a better infrastructure than the one we now have,” he stated.

Concerning cleanliness, “this year will be the year of cleanliness and environment. The Governorate and its districts have to reach a high degree of cleanliness and in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, we shall make a study for planting and expanding this project,” added the Governor.

Finally, al-Hajri called on the expatriates, brethrens in the Gulf states and capitalists to invest at Ibb Governorate especially in the tourism sector, heeding that tourism will not be seasonal. “The Governorate will work on activating it along the year through festivals and activities,” he assured.

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