Experts predict continuous growth in travel to the Middle East, which is currently increasing at an annual rate of 6 percent.
The World Travel and Tourism Council says that the region will attract 17.9 million tourists over the next 15 years. It also predicts that 13.45 million passengers from within the region will travel to destinations outside of the Middle East during the same period.
By sheer size and its multiple attractions, Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of the movement in the GCC.
Easier visas, more encouragement to good, clean tourism and the use of the seven ‘S’ factors (Shopping, security, safety, sun, sea, sport and sanitation) have made it a perfect place to wind down and relax.
While surface traffic has its role especially during the religious phases, there is now an exponential increase in standard tourism.
Saudi Arabia offers excellent food, superb hotels, a gratifying peek into history and the perfect balance of the traditional with the modern.
The heritage aspect is a major beckoner and as the custodian of the Islamic religion’ s most honoured and revered sites it generates a great deal of interest in both the scholars and amateur visitors.
The large part of travel will still be by air.
And this is where Saudi Arabia has to package itself with a little more indepth planning.
Who travels by air, and what is his/her passenger profile? A survey of the air transport market showed that about 43 percent of trips are for business and the remaining 57 percent are split among vacation (26 percent), visiting friends and relatives ( 27 percent) and other purposes (4 percent). Travellers spend about 45 minutes to reach the airport and a further one to one-and-a-half hours at the airport.
Much of the research could however be self-contradictory and their outcomes could be frustrating.
For example, while most studies show that business travellers want amenities to permit them to work during flights, one survey showed that nearly all on-the-go business travellers do not consider work their first priority while flying and two-thirds don’ t even switch on their laptops.
Research again shows that the first experience counts a lot for returns and that first experience is at the airport.
A user-friendly airport that expedites movement makes for a very comfortable start to a vacation.
To take another example, while the general wisdom is that passengers look for a slew of amenities, one survey showed that most travellers wanted a drink, meal and movie, about a quarter were happy with just the essentials, another quarter wanted nothing but low airfare, while only a tenth wanted it all, from Internet access to pay-per-view movies.
It is the low fare airlines that took this bit of research seriously and made a killing.
If the tourism and hospitality sector wishes to re-organize itself, it can use the global parameters to create a highly functional scheme:
• Using corporate research tools like focus group work, where people from particular demographics say frequent travellers are brought together in a controlled environment to discuss issues like the quality of their flying experience. Such qualitative research gives a close understanding of what people are thinking and what is important to them.
• Availing of publicly available tourism research that has a lot of data on customer itineraries, likes and dislikes, mode of travel and level of satisfaction with their travel.
• Conducting inflight surveys in which passengers fill in comment cards. Since this is real time reporting, passengers are more likely to comment on what they would like to experience on arrival. details they later forget in the rosy afterglow of flight memories.
• Going through customer letters, many of which carry comments on a variety of subjects from food, cabin service, in-flight entertainment, safety, punctuality etc as well as their experiences in their internal travels and stays.
• Getting travel agency employees flying on complimentary tickets to give a detailed evaluation on every aspect of their travel experience the behaviour of check-in staff, waiting times in queues, cabin service, passenger announcements and meals etc.
Saudi Arabia’s potential for good, regular and organized tourism without the downside of cultural negatives is far from untapped. On the contrary what needs to be done is package Oman in its own unique way:
• There is sometimes an intent to imitate or follow a neighbor and in doing so lose sight of one’ s uniqueness.
• If there is anything that needs to be done it is the publicity and imaging that needs to be handled while ensuring that Saudi Arabia’s intrinsic qualities are not lost.
• It s awesome history.
• The truly blessed natural terrain which shifts from sea to mountain to desert to lush greenery.
Saudi Arabia’s culture, it s people, their warmth, the food, the architecture, these are all of interest to the NEW TOURIST.
• These are people with active interest in environment, in greenery, in archaeology, the flora and fauna, excavation sites, history and they visit foreign lands with their idea of combining relaxation with education.
• Their numbers are increasing and they are usually in the age group of 25 to years old. They add value because they spend well, they do not destroy the ecological balance in that they are neither interested in nightlife per se, hunting, self-indulgence etc nor are they litterbugs.
• This tourist segment would love Saudi Arabia for the peace and tranquility and can be brought to the country through a concerted programme highlighting these aspects.
THE SPORTS TOURIST
• This is a major group in global tourism and not one that puts Saudi Arabia in its top list. But the Kingdom offers great waters for a variety of sport, mountains for trekking, rock climbing and scaling as well as sand skiing. It also offers opportunities for hang gliding, para-sailing, surfing, etc in surroundings that are amongst the safest and most secure in the world.
• Young people interested in sport do not despoil the natural balance nor are they a nuisance. Their interests are health oriented and Saudi could well become a SPA Centre for the region. Health is a highly recommended element in new tourism.
SENIOR CITIZEN TOURISM
• Their numbers have gone up threefold in the past 10 years. As people stay healthier than ever before after years, they are hit by the travel bug. Most charters would indicate that percent of their flights are not football fans but the retired couples and singles looking to see the world. They are well mannered, courteous of norms and traditions and so far as they know their heath is not in any danger the lure of Saudi Arabia and its safe haven aura would make for a very powerful influx of charters to the Kingdom.
• Centering on these three aspects would give Saudi Arabia a triple spearhead into upgrading its systems and its infrastructure.
• The advertizing thrust would come from the present facilities and again, the emphasis laid on the imaging.
• Let us break up the priorities;
To achieve the objectives of what we can call the National Tourism Action Plan, the Ministry could set up seven committees on:
1. Tourist accommodation,
2. Development of tourism infrastructure in identified circuits and destinations,
3. Development of adventure tourism,
4. Marketing and publicity.
5. International aviation and tourism,
6. Manpower development of tourism.
7. Creating a pool of professional service specialists
