Recent industry reports have shown that more than 5.8 million tourists from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia travelled abroad in 2015, which reflects a 2.4 percent increase as compared to 2014, with total expenses of around SR24.1 billion, indicating a growth rate of 11 percent. According to these reports, the trips focused mainly on vacation travel, visits to relatives, business-related trips, study purposes, medical treatments and others. As the winter season sets in, industry experts have predicted that many Saudi citizens and residents in the Kingdom will be looking toward traveling to Asian and European countries. This increased demand has served as a key driver for local tourism and travel companies to come up with attractive tourist packages that come with key value additions. Looking to address this demand, Elaf Group, a SEDCO Holding Group company, and a leading provider of travel, tourism and hospitality services, has revealed the launch new tour packages and offers across key destinations around the world. The company has added new destinations like Cape Town, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Jordan, Turkey and South Korea. The new tourist packages, which include accommodations, transportation, guided tours and high-level unique services, demonstrates Elaf's continuing commitment to provide its customers with world-class services and facilities while also keeping up with the various demands and requirements of the local tourism market. Mohammad Bin Mahfouz, VP of Travel & Tourism at Elaf Group, said "we are keen to provide the best value-added services and solutions in tourism, travel and hospitality sectors, as a commitment from us to ensure an exceptional experience to customers and increase their confidence in our brand, which has proven its leading position across the local, regional and global tourism map. We are sure that these new winter offers will receive positive response in the local market. We look forward to provide more services that elevate the levels of excellence and efficiency in the sector at the local, regional and global levels." — SG
