DESTINATION REPORT / SAUDI ARABIA
FOCUS ON BUSINESS TOURISM Visitor numbers are expected to hit 88 million by 2020. Around 20 percent come for business, while the rest are leisure tourists and religious pilgrims. According to Business Monitor International's Saudi Arabia Tourism Report Q1 2013, tourist arriv- als are forecast to increase by seven percent to 17.3 million in 2013. The report also predicts the number of tourist arrivals to grow by an average of 8.5 percent a year through to 2017. The kingdom’s tourism industry is unique in that, despite tough visa regulations, it has strong growth potential. It comes as no surprise then that Saudi Arabia
is seeing unprecedented growth in hotel rooms to cope with the influx, with 317,000 keys pre- dicted by the end of 2012, increasing to 424,000 by the end of 2016. Meeting venues have also expanded. In total,
Saudi Arabia lists around 500 potential meetings venues – a figure that is growing monthly – most of which are based in its main business cities: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Most often, hotel conference facilities are used to stage events, while dedicated exhibitions venues in the king- dom remain at a premium.
In total, Saudi Arabia lists around 500
potential meetings venues – a figure that is growing monthly – most based in its main business cities: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam
CATALYST FOR GROWTH As the World Bank study mentions, business travel is a substantial force in the global economy representing nearly 25 percent of the world- wide travel and tourism demand. From a global macroeconomic perspective, business tourism holds valuable financial significance as every US$1 (SAR3.7) invested in this sector generates US$17 (SAR63) in trade. “Business travel is, therefore, not only
a crucial segment for international tourism growth, but also a catalyst for economic per- formance. 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-
US$17
invested in business tourism
generated by every US$1
tries such as hotels, transportation, entertain- ment, catering, retail and business services, the meetings industry also contributes to the local economy in terms of greater profits and higher employment levels. In Saudi Arabia, the government realises
that there are huge benefits iexpanding the meetings industry in major cities across the kingdom. In conducting the study, the World Bank focused on the economic impact and pros- pects of the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC), the Dhahran International Exhibition Centre (DIEC) and the Jeddah International Exhibition & Convention Centre (JIECC). Based on the data analysed, the three facili-
Left: Makkah Clock Royal Tower, A Fairmont Hotel
Above: RICEC exterior
ties represented a direct impact of SAR297 mil- lion (US$80 million) to the Saudi economy in 2010. Indirectly, the effect was higher at SAR327 million (US$88.30 million).
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