Another industry-specific report published
in February 2013 by the World Bank, takes stock of the kingdom’s economic and urban development programmes as crucial factors in fuelling growth in the exhibi- tion and conference sector. “The meet- ings sector takes an essential rank in the kingdom’s tourism market. Excluding Hajj and Umrah trips and visits to Al Madinah, the expenditure of business trips represents 20 percent of the total tourism expenditure in Saudi Arabia,” the World Bank reveals. Cindy D’Aoust, Chief Operating Officer
and Interim Chief Executive Officer at Meetings Professional International (MPI), says the meetings industry could become a large economic driver in Saudi Arabia’s service sector and help boost job creation. “In some developed economies, the meet- ings industry is larger than a lot of other industries, but still widely unrecognised. In Canada, for instance, it is larger than forestry or automotive manufacturing,” she says.
2
DEVELOPING THE TOURISM INDUSTRY – AND IN PARTICULAR THE MEETINGS AND BUSINESS TRAVEL SECTOR – AS A VITAL SOURCE OF DOMESTIC REVENUE FEATURES HIGH UP ON THE GOVERNMENT’S LIST OF PRIORITIES
For Saudi Arabia, key sectors such as
EMPLOYMENT GENERATOR Cindy D’Aoust of Meetings Professional International (MPI) says the meetings ind- ustry, when developed, has the potential to create employment, especially in populous countries such as Saudi Arabia. “Our industry is a tremendous job creator. It has grown over the years and will continue to do so. We are actually witnessing a shortage of talent in many parts of the world as there are not enough trained professionals available,” she says. As part of its commitment to train meeting
professionals, the US-based agency developed a comprehensive and certified training programme called Career Landscape. With this programme, MPI is able to help professionalise the Saudi meeting and event industry by training and certifying its workforce, D’Aoust explains. Tis initiative holds particular significance
in a country facing socio-cultural challenges such as Saudi Arabia, as meetings-related jobs are suitable for women. “About 74 percent of our community members are women. In Saudi Arabia, women can play a critical role in the planning phase of meetings, whether these are for men or women. Of course, they can also organise meetings for women themselves and our training programmes would be perfectly relevant for these activities,” she says. D’Aoust adds that MPI can support SCTA in
elevating the profession, creating some of the structures that would help develop the industry and provide benchmarks and ideas that have been proven to be successful in other countries. At the end of the day, any industry only
grows if it has a significant pipeline of talent joining its workforce, she concludes.
water management, oil and petrochemi- cals would benefit tremendously from a vibrant meetings industry by bringing together the best professionals (scien- tists, engineers and academics) from these fields to the kingdom, D’Aoust adds. While Saudi Arabia may have lagged behind
its neighbours, such as the UAE and Qatar in developing its meetings strategy, William O’Toole, Events Development Specialist and Manager of the Australia-based Event Project Management System (EPMS), believes the Saudi government’s conservative approach will benefit the industry in the long run. “The government understands that
economically sustainable events do not occur overnight. It is concerned that unguided rapid growth could influence the popu- lation in a negative way. We must also remember that Saudi Arabia is a much larger country with a different history than either Qatar or the UAE,” O’Toole explains.
CATALYST FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH As the World Bank study mentions, busi- ness travel is a substantial force in the global economy representing nearly 25 percent of the worldwide travel and tourism demand. From a global macroeconomic perspec-
tive, business tourism holds valuable financial significance as every US$1 (SAR3.7) invested in this sector generates US$17 (SAR63) in trade.
3 “Business travel is, therefore, not only a
crucial segment for international tourism growth, but also a catalyst for economic performance. It is based on face-to-face interaction and often referred to as the ‘meetings industry’, which yields a high turnover to an economy,” the report notes. As it affects other tourism-related indus-
tries, such as hotels, transportation, enter- tainment, catering, retail and business services, the meetings industry also contrib- utes to the local economy in terms of greater profits and higher employment levels.
1 Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC)
2 Madinah, Al-Ula
3 SCTA’s Abdullah Al Jehani, Vice- President for Marketing and Programs
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