From obstacles in licensing and financial facilities and deficiency in the qualified staff, tourism industry faces many obstacles, said Faisal Al-Douhaim, marketing manager of SAMA Airlines company. “The tourism sector still needs great support and a transfer of international experience in the field of tourism to develop tourism services and products,” he said. “It is strange that there is no investing in the tourism sector by the governmental investment funds, and there is no support for this sector.” The tourism sector, in general, needs to be equated with other governmental sectors such as the industrial sector from the side of support and finding the integrated arrangements to provide all what accomplish its success, and encourage the investors through governmental free-interest loans, Douhaim noted. The tourism industry is expecting tourists in the Kingdom to reach 45.3 million by year 2020, which will create a demand for 50 thousand hotel rooms and 74 thousand apartments. Due to the presence of the Two Holy Mosques and religious tourism, currently the Kingdom ranks 22nd among the countries that have the highest tourist rates in the world. The tourism sector is considered one of the fastest growing sectors (4.5 perent annually). Despite its high future growth rates, the tourism sector has not attracted the sufficient number of investors, Douhaim lamented. In an attempt to encourage investment in the tourism industry, the Supreme Commission for Tourism is organizing a four-day first Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market conference starting on Sunday. Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Mayer of Riyadh will be inaugurating the event at Al-Faisaliah Hotel. The aim of the conference is to highlight the investment opportunities and the potential of Saudi Arabia's travel and tourism market. “This travel forum will bring together the private and government sectors which the tourism sector truly needs,” said Douhaim. “There is too much that we should do, and we should work with the concerned authorities to increase the awareness that tourism is a strategic sector and economically and socially affective.” The meeting of the leaders of the travel and tourism industry in a conference held annually will provide a great opportunity for the exchange of ideas and most importantly the opportunity to discuss any hardships or problems that face the investors in the travel sector, said the marketing manager of SAMA Airlines, one of the sponsors of the conference. “It will also provide an opportunity to see the transparency of dialogue and dealing between the government and the private sector.” The execution and implementation of the resolutions and recommendations that will be presented at the conference will determine the success of the conference,” Douhaim further said. The participation of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Rural and Municipal Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Investment Supreme Forum, National Forum for Securing Natural Life, and the Council of the Chambers of Commerce indicates the determination of STC to make the forum succeed. Douhaim sees great potential for tourism investment in the Kingdom through its many tourist aspect - geographic location, variety of regions and climates and beaches on the Red Sea and the Arab Gulf - in addition to the Haj and Umrah seasons. Despite the various kinds of tourism sites available in the Kingdom from leisure and shopping to seasonal tourism (summer and winter), Douhaim still sees the business and fairs tourism not being unutilized thoroughly in the Kingdom. “Despite the multiplicity of the fairs, forums, sessions, and workshops that are installed all over the Kingdom, there is a clear weakness in organizing professionalism and fairs coordination compared with neighboring countries, in addition to the unavailability of advanced fairs institutes or centers to support this industry in the best manner,” he underscored. “In Dubai, for example, tourism in forums and fairs represents its foundation and is considered more important than the public tourism festivals,” adding that “hotel prices on forum dates would reach less than half the prices in other days.” SAMA Airlines, in this respect, has provided low prices to encourage a new class of passengers to travel by plane, Dauhaim said. __
