Saudi Arabia in Arabian Travel Market spotlight

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.

The show is expected to benefit from the staging just prior to the event of the 4th Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Doha from May 1 to 3 organized by the World Travel & Tourism Council.