DUBAI, 5 May 2006 — More contracts worth millions of riyals and many agreements were settled with Saudi companies that are participating with the Saudi pavilion at the Arabian Travel Market. Hamil Al-Misk perfume company signed yesterday new contracts worth SR15 million for exporting Taif flowers to various Gulf and Arabian countries.
Mohammed Al-Dajwi, an official at Hamil Al-Misk, said that they have faced a great demand by many companies. The company had signed a SR2 million contract only after the second day of the exhibition. He assured that their participation in the exhibition has given them a worldwide exposure, which gave them a bigger opportunity to market the famous varieties of Taif flowers.
Mohammed Al-Utaibi, from Fursan travel, said that they signed yesterday many tourism agreements with tourism representatives from Brazil, Europe, USA, Japan and South Africa, to bring tourists to the Kingdom. Al-Utaibi, who didn’t reveal any numbers regarding the signed contracts, said that they have never expected to sign contracts in this short time, which reflects the great interest from the whole world to visit the Kingdom.
Other participating companies, which had conducted primary agreements and talks with international countries, agreed that their participation was a great success. Dr. Ali Al-Anbar, culture and heritage section manager at the Supreme Commission for Tourism, said that they were overwhelmed with the number of visitors to the Saudi pavilion. Many people of various nationalities were always present at the pavilion requesting information about the Kingdom and asking how to go there, he said. He described this year’s participation in the exhibition as the most successful.
On the other hand, as the event entered its third day, organizers disclosed that some 61 exhibitors have already rebooked for next year’s event, which will run from May 1-4 next year. Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), organizers of the event, revealed that around 7,000 trade visitors have attended the show in the first two days with nearly 836 media persons covering the exhibition, which marked a 25 percent increase compared to last year.