A popular tourist destination in Saudi Arabia.JEDDAH: Saudi tourism industry is gaining momentum as the local economy diversifies in line with the government's initiative, which focuses, among others, on religious, cultural and domestic tourism. Arabian Travel Market, the leading travel exhibition in the Middle East, for one, has witnessed a 7.5 percent increase in the amount of exhibition space booked from Saudi Arabia, three months ahead of this year's event. Arabian Travel Market 2011 will take place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 2-5. Last year, Saudi Arabia marked a 15 percent increase in tourism, as more than 3.8 million pilgrims visited for Hajj or Umrah. "Saudi Arabia is keen to diversify its economy. Revenue from hydrocarbon exports currently accounts for 45 percent of Saudi GDP," said Mark Walsh, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions. With tourism being more labor intensive than many other sectors, the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) aims to create millions of new jobs over the next five years. "The existing population of 20 million Saudi nationals, and a hugely significant 38 percent of these under 14 years of age, highlights the importance of the SCT's role in developing employment opportunities," he added. Business, cultural and domestic tourism are also expected to grow significantly. A recent report from international industry consultant BMI forecasts tourist arrivals to the Kingdom will climb by 6.7 percent year-on-year between now and 2014. It also indicates the industry will benefit considerably from a $373 billion program of social development and infrastructure projects. Moreover, development of the Saudi airports and other areas of hospitality infrastructure were key strategic moves to enable further tourism growth, Walsh added. "A multi-billion dollar airport redevelopment program is underway in Jeddah, Riyadh and other regional airports and BMI forecast a total of 319,000 hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia by 2014, up from 218,000 in 2009." Exhibitor bookings from the MENA region for Arabian Travel Market 2011 are already high, with over three months still left in the marketing cycle. Many nations have already exceeded the amount of space taken last year - with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar up by 11.8 percent, 7.5 percent, 3.8 percent and 3.6 percent respectively. Organizer Reed Travel Exhibitions is optimistic of a 5-8 percent overall increase by the time the four-day show opens. "Regionally, billions of dollars are being invested in tourism infrastructure - Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are all aggressively expanding their fleets and flying to new destinations, diversifying their economies, at a time when oil prices seem destined to settle comfortably above $100 per barrel," Walsh further said. The Middle East reported year-on-year increases in all three key hotel occupancy performance measurements in October 2010, according to industry consultants STR Global. Occupancy was up 0.5 percent to 67.2 percent, the average daily room rate rose 0.8 percent to $162.54, and revenue per available room (RevPar) went up 1.3 percent to $109.20. Furthermore, the United Nations World Tourism Organization's 2020 tourism vision forecasts that the Middle East region, which currently receives 36 million visitors a year, will attract 69 million tourists by 2020, an average growth rate of 6.7 percent. That bullish forecast was made prior to Qatar's successful 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, which is expected to draw many more visitors to the entire region.
