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.

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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.