Economists: Size of Tourism Event Industry exceeds SR 100 million annually in the saudi Kingdom
ATP- Arab tourism portal- Recently economists here have estimated that the size of tourism event industry, featured annually in the Kingdom, exceeds over SAR 100 million, and more than 130 companies and organizations are currently engaged in the event organization business in the country.
They also estimated that the revenues accrued annually by tourism festivals are at over SR 11 billion, through tourism trips organized by these festivals, in addition to the hotel occupancy and their role in the stimulation of tourism activity, such as visits to shopping malls, restaurants, and different service centers throughout the provinces where the festivals are featured.
Different areas in the Kingdom annually hosts more than 100 tourism festivals around the year, including shopping festivals desert and heritage festivals and some events related to agricultural products across different provinces, plus athletic and entertainment festivals within them.
Companies organizing tourism events get good revenue from the public administrations, which normally organize events in addition to the revenue achieved from the sales and charges they levy within the festival sites.
Meanwhile, economists expect a substantial increase in the volume of tourism events investment in light of the business expansion carried by a number of big companies benefiting from the international expertise in the area.
A number of owners of organizations involved in the tourism event operation consider the event industry as a new and promising economic activity and it is poised to grow rapidly in the light of the significant increase in festivals annually. It indicates that the industry achieved good economic returns whenever the event operator are skilled in the management of the festivals professionally and in high quality.
A prominent event operator and investor in tourism, Dr. Mogbil Al Mogbil, considers "tourism events" as one of the most important areas for future investment in Saudi Arabia, stressing the role of SCTH in regulating and developing this industry and turning it into a professional business instead of being run by gross individuals.
Al Mogbil believes the industry still faces some challenges, the most important of them being holding of tourism festivals are linked to public holidays, which places considerable pressure on the event operators resulting in lackadaisical festivals.
Event operator, Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al Mahwoos, on his turn said, “The market needs more of investors in this sector in the light of the annual increase in the number of festivals and tourism events, given the great turnout toward festivals and potential of being held around the year.”
Dr. Al Mahwoos confirmed, “This activity achieves high investment returns. Event operation is an important industry that requires professional operators,” adding that, the at present the number of professional operators is not enough and the market needs more professionals in this area, particularly in the area of investment.
Dr. Al Mahwoos meanwhile expressed his appreciation for the role played by SCTH in support of tourism event operators, whether technically or financially, in particular for enhancing the performance of operators. He commended SCTH’s efforts in the organization of international tours for approved operators to explore international experience in this field and promote the level of services in sector. He also lauded SCTH’s efforts in organizing a number of seminars and workshops involving a number of international experts.
Member of Events, Exhibitions and Conferences Committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Fahad Momena, on turn his part pointed to the vital role of event industry, which is expected to play a major role in the recovery of the economy if this industry is considered as one of most important economic tools as it’s development is paid greater attention by many of the countries in the world.
“For example, in the United States, the income made by this industry exceeds the income of automotive industry by 30% and this sector creates more than a million and half jobs annually adding USD 250 billion to the United States’ economy, according to the reports from the U.S. Travel Association,” Dr. Al Mahwoos
Acting Director General of Programs and Products in SCTH, Abdullah bin Abdul Malik Al Morshid, in this context said, “Tourism events enjoy high demand because of their great benefits to the local communities in the light of their direct impact on provincial economies and local populations and their important role in promoting local tourism and raising demand for the services provided to tourists.”
"Tourism events also contribute to the marketing of agricultural products, promoting handicraft products and activities, and creating new employment opportunities for a wide range of local people where the events take place, in particular for the youth."
Al Morshid continued, “SCTH has recently announced its comprehensive program for the development of tourism events in the Kingdom during the period 2014-2018 to meet a significant increase in people’s turnout towards the events and their aspiration for their development. This comes in conjunction with the completion of the construction phase of the "concept of tourism events" in the Kingdom where tourist events will be professionally managed by specialized companies.”
"SCTH pays great attention to support tourism festivals through “Tourism event support program” which resulted in more than 50,000 temporary jobs at festivals held since 2005, while the number of the festivals that were held under the sponsorship of SCTH since 2005 and until now are 500," he added
