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Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions will be in the spotlight at
the Arabian Travel Market, the Middle East’s premier travel and tourism exhibition,
to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre next month (May).
The Kingdom’s Supreme Commission for Tourism is mounting a 250 square
metres stand at the show while Saudi Arabian Airlines will exhibit independently
on a 100 square metre stand.
“The Supreme Commission’s pavilion will house a variety of exhibitors from the
Kingdom’s private sector including Haj operators, inbound tour operators and
ground handlers as well as hotels,” said Matt Thompson, Group Exhibitions
Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), which organises the show.
Among Saudi participants are Jeddah-based Dar Al-Manasek, Elaf Travel &
Tourism, Shaayer for Umrah & Tourism, as well as wholesale accommodation
specialists Unique Choice from Riyadh and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
Unique Choice says it will use the show to highlight its development plans.
“The travel market in the Middle East is growing, but slower than we expected
because of visa restrictions,” said Mohamed Wazeer, Unique Choice Manager.
“The Middle East is by far our single most important market and we are planning
to open offices in other GCC countries to support our headquarters in Riyadh. We
will also use ATM to launch our new destination brochures.”
This is the second year Saudi Arabia has been officially represented at the show,
which runs at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 4-7.
“Saudi Arabia is not only an important market for us from the exhibitor
perspective, but it is extremely important from the visitor point of view,” said
Thompson. “Many outbound providers and destinations have identified the
Kingdom as one of the most lucrative markets in the Gulf and 20 of the top travel
buyers from Saudi Arabia will be hosted at the show as part of our official hosted
buyer programme.”
Arabian Travel Market 2004 is to be the largest in the event’s 11-year history with
1,200 exhibitors from 55 countries taking up 25% more floor space than last year’s
show. |
