Riyadh planned and
underway projects tally rises to 55 with top ten developments valued at almost
US$11.6 billion; Saudi businesses to showcase wares on 1,4000 square metres
of exhibition floorspace
Saudi Arabia’s US$11.6 billion worth of
tourism projects currently underway in the country will underscore the strength
of the industry as the country looks to build on domestic and religious tourism
totaling an estimated US$ 45.3 billion at this year’s Arabian Travel Market
(ATM) 2015.
“If we look just at the Kingdom’s list of top 10 tourism and hospitality
projects, almost US$11.6 billion is being invested into supporting the
country’s economic diversification plans, and our partners on the ground are
eager to discuss how this year’s ATM can showcase sector growth to more than 33,000
expected participants,” says Nadege Noblet, Exhibition Manager of Arabian
Travel Market, WTM Portfolio, Reed Travel Exhibitions
According to new MEED intelligence data,
Saudi Arabia is capitalising on both new business and leisure tourism
opportunities with 55 planned or under-development projects including four
museums/libraries, 39 hotels and resorts, one mall, seven sports stadia/leisure
complexes, two theme parks and two convention centres.
The
country’s top 10 projects currently under development are valued at just under
US$11.6 billion, cover a wide range of tourism-related activities from US$4400
million investment by Saudi Aramco into 11 stadiums to the next three phases of
the Jabal Omar mega development in Makkah, which, upon completion in 2017, will
have 40 hotel towers.
Other
high profile projects include the US$533 million MKEC Visitor complex, the
US$450 million Hilton Riyadh Hotel & Resort and US$500 million Millennium
Jeddah.
Following
the announcement late last year by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and
Antiquities of approval of provisions to issue tourism visas and introduce new
regulations to the system, this greatly enhances prospects for future sector
development if the proposal achieves final approval.
Industry
experts put the estimated value of the Saudi tourism and travel market at US$45.3
billion (SAR170 billion) in 2014, of which US$18.7 billion (SAR70 billion) was
generated from domestic tourism and almost US$27 billion (SAR100 billion) from
religious and other tourism.
“The
country has a number of important historical sites and places of natural beauty
that could be a magnet for tourists from around the world, such as the ruins of
Madain Saleh, a Unesco World Heritage site, the stunning Farasan Islands, the
mountain city of Taif and Jeddah’s restored old quarter,” said Noblet.
New research released by YouGov in Travel Oracle –
KSA Highlights report, highlights the preferences of travellers from the
Kingdom, who list good weather (39%), reasonable cost (38%) and family
destination attraction (34%) as the top three criteria when selecting a
vacation destination.
Popular
travel destinations currently include the UAE, visited by one in five Saudi
Arabian residents (19%) during their last leisure trip, as well as Turkey , Egypt
and Jordan
KSA
travellers also have a mixed accommodation preference with one-third of
residents usually choosing to stay at budget hotels, 25% staying at luxury
hotels, and a further third one-third opting for serviced apartments when traveling
for leisure. One-fifth of the total number of respondents (22%) also reported
going on a cruise holiday on their most recent trip.
“What
is especially interesting is the importance of technology to the Saudi traveller
and YouGov reports that nearly two-fifths of KSA residents - 38% - book their
flights through online travel agents compared to the overall MENA average of
28%. For hotels, online travel agents are also the most popular booking method
at 22%, followed by travel booking websites with 17% and direct offline
bookings at 17%,” said Noblet.
YouGov
notes that 37% of KSA residents booked all their leisure trips online in the
last 12 months with the top reasons for booking online given as cheaper prices
compared to offline rates (43%), availability of more options (40%) and availability
of special/preferential rates (36%).
Once
at their destination, leisure travellers from KSA are also more likely than
other MENA based vacationers to travel with and rely on smartphones to upload
photos and video, play games, check emails and access social media.
“This
has great synergy with the ATM programme and our in-demand travel technology
seminar series, which provides invaluable insight and practical take-aways on
how to capture and convert interest from important and expanding markets like
KSA,” she added.
The ATM seminars return covering travel
technology and other key industry issues such as luxury travel trends, business
travel and aviation. Also returning are the visitor trails, helping visitors
identify the specific travel sectors on the show floor including: family
travel, budget travel, business travel, health & wellbeing, shopping,
transportation, sports travel, cultural and heritage and adventure travel.
With a tenth hall
offering an additional 2,000 square metres of floor space, Arabian
Travel Market 2015 will take place from 4-7 May at the Dubai International
Convention & Exhibition Centre. Last year ATM saw total attendance increase
by 12% with 33,000 participants, from more than 131 countries
and business deals signed worth more
than US$ 2.1 billion over the four
days.
For more information on Arabian Travel
Market 2015, please log on to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
