meetings
SCEF
“The event also aimed to encourage
more companies to stage events inside Saudi Arabia, rather than take them outside the kingdom to other countries such as the UAE.” Additional forum goals, he added, were
to increase investment in meeting and event projects and raise awareness of the sector and its business benefits.
THE BIG PICTURE Day one of SCEF opened with a presentation from Tom Hulton, Director of International Relations at IMEX Group, who presented an economic overview of the global meetings industry and provided insight into the role KSA could play in the sector going forward. “Meetings are critical engines of economic
1 Keeping it local
Te inaugural Saudi Conventions and Exhibitions Forum (SCEF) raised the importance of exchanging knowledge and ideas in order to enhance the sector
The inaugural Saudi Conventions and Exhibitions Forum (SCEF), which took place from November 3 to 4, 2013, at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, aimed to convince its audience of the importance of the global meetings industry to the kingdom’s future economic prosperity. The event, which was launched by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and the recently established Saudi Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB), brought together more than 700 industry stakeholders, 90 percent of whom hailed from Saudi Arabia. The remaining 10 percent comprised
international delegates including keynote speakers from the US and UK, as well as UAE industry professionals who shared examples of best practice in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, both of which boast more mature meetings industries. SCEF’s Marketing Manager Loy Pinheiro from show organiser IQPC Middle East said
34
the forum primarily acted as a knowledge exchange between participants, who ranged from government authorities including the SCTA, SECB, chambers of commerce and relevant ministries, to marketing and PR agencies, event planners and organisers, corporate event planning departments and suppliers to the industry- spanning venues, facility managers, audio- visual and lighting companies, travel and tourism agencies and stand builders. Pinheiro said the main objectives of the
forum were to “increase communication between all stakeholders and transfer knowledge from international and local experiences for the benefit of the development of the meetings industry in Saudi Arabia”. “It highlighted the importance of the
industry and the role it plays in the development of the economy and in particular, tourism,” he explained.
growth generating employment, developing trade, driving exports, spreading knowledge, stimulating culture, regenerating cities and nurturing local communities,” he said. “Meetings achieve innovation, business
advancement, professional development, collaboration, knowledge transfer and industry-related jobs and revenue.” Demonstrating the potential of the
meetings market in Saudi Arabia, Hulton said a delegate attending an international meeting spends six to seven times more than a leisure visitor. The average delegate spend was US$107 (SAR400) per day, based on an average event duration of 3.8 days. Hulton used the UK as an example of the positive economic impact of the meetings industry. The sector contributes GBP58 billion (US$95 billion) to UK GDP and is the country’s 16th
largest employer. He noted there were 375 global
association meetings that Saudi Arabia could potentially pick up, but none of them had been staged in the country within the last 15 years. However, most of these associations had Saudi-based representatives who could be leveraged to win business, Hulton stressed. Associations would consider the
kingdom for a congress, he said, if they ticked the following boxes: if they reached out to potential members and markets; transferred
1 HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 2 Speaker Award Recipients at SCEF 2013 3 Opening ceremony at SCEF 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108