Saudi Arabia has begun work on a massive $2-billion heritage and culture tourism project at Souq Okaz City in Taif that will have heritage centres, museums, recreational areas and a convention centre, a media report said.

Souq Okaz City will also have a suburb with housing for about 750,000 people; a new international airport able to handle five million passengers a year in its first phase; a technology hub implemented by King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology; Taif University; and an industrial city, reported the Arab News.

The plans include five main public sector projects: Interactive museums focusing on learning through recreation; an Okaz Museum; an exhibition and convention centre offering multi-purpose halls that will host activities, festivals, heritage events, poetry and theatre fairs throughout the year; a museum for the Souq Okaz monuments next to an artisanal creative centre; and Okaz park.

The 18 main projects earmarked for the private sector include recreational parks, heritage villages, open markets, hotels, environmental camps, shopping malls, hospitals and medical centres, business centres, a social club, international schools, health clubs, sports facilities and tourist accommodation.

Prince Khaled Al Faisal, governor of Makkah and adviser to King Salman, laid the foundation of the new project during celebrations for the opening of the 12th annual Souq Okaz.