JEDDAH, 5 May 2005 — Tourism in the Middle East has been developing against the background of positive indicators suggesting that tourism to the area is growing faster than in any other area in the world. Intra regional tourism is contributing to the expansion and helped boost room occupancy in 2004 to 70 percent across the region, 15 percent above 2003.
The Arabian Travel Market exhibition currently in Dubai, said Tom Nutley, chairman, Reed Travel Exhibitions, has expanded this year to accommodate the increased interest from the hospitality industry.
“Industry statistics repeatedly show that Arab tourists from the Gulf states alone spend about $12 billion on overseas vacations. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest outbound markets with tourists from the Kingdom spending $6.7 billion annually on overseas travel — that’s about five percent of the country’s GDP. The average length of stay in a country by a Middle Eastern traveler is three weeks, according to figures released by the hospitality industry.
Starwood Hotel and Resort Group’s Senior Vice President and Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East Phillipe Cassis said that the group’s long-term presence in the Middle East — over forty years now — gives the group a solid foundation of knowledge of the areas preferences when it comes to hotel accommodation. Its worldwide presence provides a known quality of style to the Saudi traveler who represents a substantial part of the ME travel market.
The company conducts its hotel and leisure business both directly and through its subsidiaries. The company’s brand names include St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, and Four Points by Sheraton. Through these brands, Starwood is well represented in most major markets around the world. “Our primary business is operating hotels through management agreements — whereas as a global organization we are the biggest owner of assets with close to $9 billion in assets,” said Cassis.
Starwood plans both to expand its brand portfolio in key locations around the world and, said Cassis, “Align our portfolios in Saudi Arabia. We have had a certain number of properties in our portfolio in the past that were no longer meeting our brand standards. We still believe there is growth in Riyadh and potential in the Jeddah area.”
Starwood still has a presence in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom, “but it is a tougher market,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has always been a prime destination for the group and it has a strong presence in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Dammam. The acquisition of the Westin a few years ago reinforced the presence, but, said Cassis, “We are open to new opportunities where we could generate incremental brand purchase and generate return on investment. Jeddah has been a very important market for many years as has Riyadh — they are very important to us.” The group’s hotels cater for the middle and upper market segments and the client profile depends on the location. “Makkah hotels have a pretty specific market and our team there has actively developed business outside the traditional high seasons and dates. Jeddah has a combination of business and leisure and Riyadh is more focused on business travel.”
Regionally, Starwood continues to develop the potential of its brands in key locations — opening the Four Points Le Verdun in Lebanon making it the group’s third property in the country and the second in Beirut.
“In our development strategy, we are looking as well as Saudi Arabia at key growth locations in Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon South Africa and the Indian Ocean,” concluded Cassis.
