Tourism & Hospitality | Tuesday 20 August, 2019 4:15 am |

Young men and women volunteers are playing a prominent role in Taif Season, guiding and organizing the movement of visitors each day and providing them with a human presence. This important role has been appreciated by all visitors to the season, which continues throughout this month. 

In Souk Okaz, one of the most prominent areas of the season, covering a large area and hosting dozens of pavilions, including those representing 11 Arab countries, young Saudi men and women are supporting thousands of visitors daily. Their role starts from guiding visitors through the parking lots, to greeting them at the gates, then organizing their ticket access and entry to the market in an orderly manner. 

Abdullah Al-Khulaki stands at the entrance to one of the pavilions, keeping visitors moving smoothly and helping any that need extra guidance and support. He emphasizes the importance of giving visitors a friendly welcome and adds that volunteers focus on helping the elderly and children with families, making their visit as smooth and easy as possible, and ensuring that people are well informed about the market. 

Another volunteer, Sarah Ahmed, said: “We have previous experience in crowd management and organizing visitors in various events similar to Souk Okaz. As a group, we are counted on to meet visitors and respond to their various enquiries, making their visit more pleasant. Covering all the sections of the market may need more than six hours, and visitors will stop at those sections that are more attractive to them. We focus on supporting the elderly and children, such as helping them reach their parents if they get separated from them while walking around the market.”