*The recognition of the Historic Jeddah district as a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), would boost tourism in the area, a senior official from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) said here recently. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Ghabban, SCTA's vice-president and general supervisor of the King Abdullah Project for the Care of Cultural Heritage, said the area was exceptional in many ways, including its architecture. "We should k**w that the ancient pilgrim routes were abandoned for a long time in the past for several reasons, including political and eco**mic reasons, and Jeddah was the only available gateway." He said the Kingdom had failed to get UNESCO to declare the area a world heritage site in 2011.