JEDDAH, 5 April 2006 — Saudi Arabia’s main tourism segments differ from other Middle Eastern markets, depending mainly on Haj and Umrah, business and domestic, and intra-regional travel. The introduction of Umrah plus, which allows visitors to combine their pilgrimage with leisure to other Saudi destinations, is aimed to boost the Kingdom’s tourism industry.
There has been a tremendous response from the hospitality sector to the efforts of the Supreme Commission of Tourism headed by Prince Sultan ibn Salman to foster domestic tourism. Saudization is a key component of the campaign to see that young and aspiring Saudis find jobs in the sector.
Whether leisure tourism to Saudi Arabia will experience significant growth in the foreseeable future will be known by the end of the year.
“However, some growth in domestic leisure demand in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province in addition to some parts of the Kingdom is anticipated,” a senior management executive of an international hotels and resorts group said yesterday.
“Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East topped in performance worldwide in 2005 with an impressive 21 percent growth in revenue per available room,” Ahmed A. Baki, director of marketing of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., for the Middle East, told Arab News in an interview.
“Growth was fueled by a 23 percent increase in average room rates, which soared to $117 compared to $95 in 2004,” he said, adding that occupancy in hotels continues to be at an all-time high at nearly 70 percent.
Dubai has shown strong signs of growth being a dynamic market in terms of developments. It continues to remain popular among both business and leisure travelers. There has been an annual growth of 13 percent.
Current trends show that tourism continues to be one of the most dynamic economic sectors in the Middle East. Forecasts for international tourist arrivals to the region show that there will be 68.5 million arrivals in 2020. “This represents an annual growth rate of 7.1 percent over the 1995-2020 period, which is above the global growth rate of 4.1 percent,” he said quoting the World tourism Organization.
Speaking about Starwood, which recently hosted a series of industry workshops bringing together 40 experts from its hotels worldwide, starting with Dubai and continuing with Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Amman, Jeddah and Riyadh, Baki said, “We managed to achieve another remarkable milestone in 2005 with the acquisition of the Le Meridien brand and the related franchise business for the portfolio of 130 hotels and resorts globally. This major move has enabled us to lead the industry.”
The new brand has expanded its portfolio to eight brands, the other seven being Sheraton, Four Points By Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Eloft W Hotels and Westin.
“There has been a sustained increase in investment to match tourism growth and expansion of our portfolio,” Baki said, adding that being the only hotel operator having presence in every single market throughout the region, Starwood operations in the region have witnessed a phenomenal growth.
In 2005, Starwood properties across the region increased from 25 to 48 hotels. In the UAE alone the number of properties jumped from seven to 19 including the Abu Dhabi Golf Club by Sheraton. In the Kingdom, the Le Meridien brand doubled the portfolio of Starwood properties to double to 10.
In the Kingdom, Starwood hotels reported extraordinary performance with a high growth rate in room nights of 14.72 percent in 2005 compared to 2004. Room revenues grew by 13.95 percent.