Saudi Arabia to attract 15.8 million tourists by 2014

Tourist numbers to rise 6.7% annually to 2014 boosted by religious, business and domestic tourism; Saudi online visitor registrations for Arabian Travel Market up 118% The number of tourists heading to the Kingdom is expected to reach 15.8 million by 2014, up from around 13 million in 2010, according to international industry consultant Business Monitor International (BMI). The Kingdom’s hospitality sector will grow in tandem, with some 381,000 new hotel rooms expected by 2015, representing 63% of additional room stock against 2010 inventories, driven by, business, religious and domestic tourists, BMI said. In terms of its 2011 performance, STR Global reports that the Kingdom recorded positive results in three key areas of occupancy, rate and RevPar despite the Arab Spring. Occupancy levels rose by 8.6% to 58.2%, while RevPar grew by an impressive 17.4% to US$120 and average daily rates increased by 8.1% to reach US$206. Consistent with those results, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the leading travel exhibition in the Middle East, has seen visitor registrations up by 118%. The number in visitors interested in buying travel products and services from the Kingdom has risen 116% to 1,168 compared with the same period last year witnessing strong online visitor interest months ahead of the event, from travel professionals in the Kingdom. “Saudi Arabia continues to focus on its tourism industry as it looks to diversify away from its dependence on oil, with revenues from tourism accounting for around 3.6% of GDP,” said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions. “The tourism authority has announced it aims to attract 88 million tourists by 2020 as the kingdom focuses on developing religious tourism and business travel in particular,” he added. Religious tourism remains the main reason for overseas visitors to Saudi. More than half of inbound visitors travel to Mecca and Medina, making it a major focus for major investment in hotels and leisure development. The Kingdom issued 9.5 million religious visas last year, up 11.3% from 2010, according to the Ministry of Hajj website, with Umrah visas rising by one million in 2011 from 2010. Nearly two million foreign pilgrims arrived to perform Haj last year. Saudi Arabia’s government is undertaking major infrastructure initiatives to provide better services to pilgrims including enhancement of the Holy Mosque in Mecca as well as expanding and upgrading King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, and Madinah Airport, as well as an aggressive marketing strategy Overall pre-event visitor registrations for the four-day Arabian Travel Market show, which opens on 30 April 2012, are already up 132% from the same time last year, at nearly 2,000 visitors. Exhibitors from the Kingdom already include the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities, Al Hokair Group, Al Khazama Management Company and e-travelgate. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai and approaching its nineteenth year, the show has grown to become the largest showcase of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in the world. Last year 2,232 exhibitors covering nearly 20,000 square metres, attracted more than 22,000 attendees. The line-up for this year’s Arabian Travel Market will bring together annual favourites and a number of brand new events including the inaugural UNWTO regional tourism ministers’ conference and the WTM Vision forum, which will focus on Middle East travel trends and the online travel market Covering the entire week, the popular Seminar Theatre series of sessions will address industry hot topics from developments in the aviation sector and hotel branding to Sharia-compliant travel. The all-new Tech Theatre is a dedicated platform that provides an opportunity to gain invaluable insight into leading edge industry-related technologies including social media and GDS. -ENDS- For more information on Arabian Travel Market 2012, please log on to www.arabiantravelmarket.com About Arabian Travel Market Arabian Travel Market 2011 boasted more than 2,200 exhibitors and stand-sharers, from 69 countries. Arabian Travel Market is part of the Reed Travel Exhibitions’ portfolio, which includes 15 of the world’s leading travel industry events. For more information visit www.arabiantravelmarket.com Reed Travel Exhibitions Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry. Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, business travel and the meetings and incentives industry. The 13 events are; World Travel Market (WTM), Arabian Travel Market (ATM), International French Travel Market (IFTM), La Cumbre, International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), International Luxury Travel Market Asia (ILTMA), Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) (owned by Melbourne Convention Visitors Bureau), Global Exhibition for Incentive, Business Travel, and Meetings (EIBTM), Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (GIBTM), Americas Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (AIBTM), China Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (CIBTM) and Business Travel Market. April 2013 will see RTE will launch World Travel Market Latin America in São Paulo. RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions. In 2011, six million participants attended RE’s 500 events in 39 countries covering 44 industry sectors from aerospace and aviation to beauty and cosmetics to sports and recreation. Reed Exhibitions is owned by Reed Elsevier, the world’s leading provider of professional information and online workflow solutions. www.reedtravelexhibitions.com Reed Exhibitions The world's leading organiser of trade and consumer events running over 470 events in 37 countries. Reed Exhibitions excels in creating high profile, highly targeted business and consumer exhibitions and events to establish and maintain business relations, and generate new business. Reed Exhibitions network of offices and promoters extends to 65 countries. www.reedexpo.com Reed Elsevier Reed Elsevier is a world leading provider of professional information and online workflow solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal, Risk Information and Analytics, and Business sectors.   Based in over 200 locations worldwide, they create authoritative content delivered through market leading brands, enabling their customers to find the essential data, analysis and commentary to support their decisions. www.reed-elsevier.com For more information, please contact: Nathalie Viselé Director Shamal Marketing Communications PO Box 502701 Office 106, Al Sufouh Tower Dubai Media City Dubai, United Arab Emirates Office: +971 4 3652711 I Direct : +971 4 3652712 I Mobile : +971 50 4576525 Fax:+971 4 4278703 E-mail: nathalie@smc-pr.com I Web site: www.smc-pr.com