meetings: The main event
The main event
What is STTIM?
The Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market (STTIM) is an annual event for the Kingdom's top travel and tourism industry figures. Attendees gathering for this year's show at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center from March 27-31 will have chance to discuss the sector's development and initiatives within Saudi, industry best practice and attracting investment.
According to the STTIM website, the event provides an ideal opportunity for the entire travel and tourism industry to meet up and do business. It also helps bring together disparate groups within the sector and highlights the benefits of those companies working in partnership with each other.
The show was set up to address common industry issues through discussion and dialogue, promote products and services, enable attendees to establish new contacts and catch up with existing ones, strike deals, and strengthen the Kingdom's position as a regional economic leader with a diversified economy.
"The exhibition offers an opportunity to exhibitors to reach the lucrative Saudi travel and tourism market. With the largest economy in the Middle East, the Kingdom is a perfect commercial centre for the business sector," according to the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities (SCTA), which organises STTIM.
It also helps promote the Saudi tourism brand locally and internationally, provides an ideal environment for industry professionals to engage and highlights new investment initiatives, SCTA adds.
All segments of the tourism industry are expected to be represented at the show, including tourism boards; travel agents; yachts and marina service operators; hotels; luxury resorts; furnished apartment and timeshare services; property developers and holiday homes. Conference and exhibition venue organisers and cultural events and fairs operators will also be attending.
Figures from other industries with close ties to the sector are also expected to appear. Among them will be professionals from the banking and financial services and telecoms and communications industries.
The exhibition was launched in 2008 by the SCTA to help develop, promote and organise the Kingdom's tourism sector. In particular, the SCTA is focused on raising awareness of Saudi's culture and heritage, archaeological sites, museums and economic progression all important components of the country's leisure and business tourism industry.
This year's STTIM is expected to attract 14,180 visitors, according to SCTA projections. In contrast, the event welcomed 11,768 in 2010 and 4,661 for the 2009 show.
The total number of individual companies participating at last year's event was 41, with a further 75 attending as part of groups organised by local development councils. A further 11 businesses sponsored the event.
Total exhibition floor space for 2010 was 6,896 square metres, with 9,574 required for this year's event to accommodate more exhibitors and attendees wishing to make contacts and discuss investment opportunities.
What's on
Following STTIM 2010, the SCTA embarked on a promotional campaign to increase participation for this year's show. Since April last year, the authority has devoted its efforts to marketing the forum to tourism stakeholders and related companies, with details of the speakers and workshops scheduled for the 2011 show to be provided. Mass media channels such as TV, daily newspapers and social networks, have been utilised to publicise STTIM to service providers, the general public and institutions engaged in tourism investment.
The theme for this year's event is 'Tourism is Everyone's Business-Connecting Stakeholders', which will run through all workshops, seminars, exhibitions and accompanying events.
The SCTA has confirmed that topics to be discussed in the exhibition's conferences and workshops will include finance, recruitment, training and other issues related to tourism and investment. Subjects that will feature heavily in two or three sessions during the exhibition are investment projects and securing funding for tourism developments in Saudi Arabia.
Supply and demand and the industry's growth will be incorporated into seminars throughout the show, according to event organiser SCTA. As part of these discussions, tourism development councils are scheduled to talk about their respective markets and destination promotion strategies.
A full session will also be dedicated to employment, focusing on general challenges and how companies and organisations can help create new job opportunities for Saudis. Top industry leaders and respected figures will be speaking at all seminars throughout the event.
As with previous shows, other tourism and travel-related events will be held simultaneously alongside STTIM. The Handcrafts and National Industries Exhibition will showcase the Kingdom's heritage and history through various handcrafted oriels, scuttles, doors and carpentry. Farming and harvesting equipment, textiles and stone work will also be on display.
Other attractions during this year's STTIM include folklore performances, fine arts and photography displays, and a Bedouin camp exhibition that charts how nomadic people in the Kingdom have lived.
The programme for the 2010 STTIM show covered several themes and issues related to Saudi Arabia's tourism sector. Topics covered in various seminars and workshops during the opening two days of the five-day event included job opportunities and improving employment prospects, industry qualifications, tourism operators' role in boosting traveller numbers throughout the region, domestic tourism programmes and financing small businesses involved in the sector.
Key speakers participating in the event included Dr Abdul Wahid Al Hameed, Saudi's Deputy Minister of Labour; Ibrahim Al Rashid, member of the National Tourism Committee at the Council of Chamber; and Professor Saeed Al Saeed, dean of the tourism and antiquities college for King Saud University. Speakers for this year's event were unconfirmed at the time of writing, but an equally impressive line-up is expected.
Business deals
Away from the seminars and workshops, STTIM has proved an ideal platform for making new contacts and generating business. Some US$13.3 million worth of deals were agreed during the 2010 show, most of which involved leisure projects. Tour organisers, accommodation providers and marketers also shook hands on various transactions throughout the five-day event.
Saudi tourism
With the Kingdom boasting a vibrant economy and political stability, some economists believe the growth potential for its tourism sector is huge. Statistics compiled by the SCTA show that the country attracted more than 13.3 million and 13.7 million business and hajj tourists in 2009 and 2010 respectively, with the figure expected to increase to 14.5 million for 2011.
The leisure segment accounts for the largest number of domestic tourists (48 percent), while the Kingdom's economic growth is attracting a large number of business travellers. With more corporate arrivals in Saudi Arabia, the SCTA expects the country's meeting and conventions industry to thrive in the coming years.
Elsewhere, heritage tourism is another substantial market for Saudi Arabia as travellers visit various destinations to learn more about the Kingdom's culture and history.
Other strong segments include exploration and adventure for travellers that enjoy hich-octane pursuits like paragliding and speed boat racing, eco-tourists looking to explore popular camping, hiking and desert safari sites, and wellness. The latter relates to medical and wellness tourists travelling around the Kingdom for various treatments and comestic procedures.
In 2009, there were 43,805 million tourist trips, which represents a 230 percent increase compared to 1995. The sector accounted for 9.1 percent of Saudi's non-oil GDP in 2009, with experts forecasting a bigger contribution for 2010. Elsewhere, demand for hotels from domestic and international travellers has grown considerably along with an increase in available rooms. As of 2009, there were 102,319 rooms in the Kingdom a 6.4 percent rise to 2004 with a 60 percent occupancy rate for that year.
Business Monitor Intelligence (BMI) forecasts that arrivals in Saudi will grow 6.7 percent year-on-year to 2014, with pilgrims performing hajj the biggest contributor. A separate report in The Guardian newspaper predicted that by 2025, the Kingdom would receive 25 million pilgrims more than double the 12 million that currently enter the country to carry out their religious duties.
Hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia are set to rise to 319,000 by 2014 from 218,000 in 2009, with several international chains either opening new or additional properties throughout the Kingdom. In 2009, Rotana, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Accor and Raffles Hotels & Resorts opened hotels to capitalise on growing demand for accommodation from predominantly business travellers. Elsewhere, InterContinental Hotels Group, Al Hokair Group, Rezidor Hotel Group, Wyndham Hotel Group and Starwood Hotels & Resorts all have properties in the Kingdom.
Domestic tourism is another key area that the Saudi authorities are focusing on.
The BMI report revealed that most nationals often take holidays in other Middle Eastern countries, with a relatively small number staying in the Kingdom. Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Saudis travelling abroad is expected to rise to 10.7 million from 8.19 million. Meanwhile, international tourism expenditure is forecast to hit US$8.47 million. But the government hopes events like STTIM will encourage the local travel industry to keep pushing domestic holidays to nationals.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's tourism authorities stepped up their marketing strategy in 2010 by announcing plans to hold 18 festivals throughout the Kingdom. Sports, entertainment and cultural festivals were held for all age groups, demonstrating organisers' ability to stage big events for locals and visitors alike.
Adding further tourist attractions to the Kingdom, the SCTA plans to open four new provincial museums in Bahah, Tabuk, Hail and Dammam. An additional 40 museums that will highlight Saudi's heritage and antiquities are also planned.
On the international front, SCTA was present on the Saudi Arabia pavilion at Shanghai
World Expo 2010 from May to October last year. The event, which gave participating countries the opportunity to showcase their respective culture, economy, scientific research and technology, attracted more than 30,000 people per day. In terms of size, the Saudi pavilion was only second to China's.
Further raising the Kingdom's profile, the SCTA organised the 'Saudi Archaeological Masterpieces' exhibition to showcase its heritage to the world.
The exhibition was launched last year and will take place at museums throughout Europe and the US to highlight Saudi's rich culture and history. Some 320 archaeological artifacts and treasures, most of which reside in Riyadh's National Museum, will be on display for the first time outside the Kingdom. Several discoveries from recent excavations will also be on show.
The relics span several historic periods, from the Stone Age (one million year BC) up until the Saudi Renaissance.
Of the archaeological exhibitions taking place, two were opened last year in The Louvre Museum, Paris, which ran for two-and-a-half months, and in Barcelona, Spain, between November 2010 and February this 2011.
