The number of tourists heading to Saudi Arabia is expected to reach 15.8 million by 2014, up from around 13 million in 2010, international industry consultant Business Monitor International (BMI) said. The Kingdom's hospitality sector will grow in tandem, with some 381,000 new hotel rooms expected by 2015, representing 63 percent of additional room stock against 2010 inventories, driven by, business, religious and domestic tourists, BMI said. In terms of its 2011 performance, STR Global reports that the Kingdom recorded positive results in three key areas of occupancy, rate and RevPar despite the Arab Spring. Occupancy levels rose by 8.6 percent to 58.2 percent, while RevPar grew by an impressive 17.4 percent to $120 and average daily rates increased by 8.1 percent to reach $206. Consistent with those results, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), the leading travel exhibition in the Middle East, has seen visitor registrations up by 118 percent. The number in visitors interested in buying travel products and services from the Kingdom has risen 116 percent to 1,168 compared with the same period last year witnessing strong online visitor interest months ahead of the event, from travel professionals in the Kingdom. "Saudi Arabia continues to focus on its tourism industry as it looks to diversify away from its dependence on oil, with revenues from tourism accounting for around 3.6 percent of GDP," said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions. "The tourism authority has announced it aims to attract 88 million tourists by 2020 as the kingdom focuses on developing religious tourism and business travel in particular," he added. Religious tourism remains the main reason for overseas visitors to the Kingdom. More than half of inbound visitors travel to Makkah and Madina, making it a major focus for major investment in hotels and leisure development. The Kingdom issued 9.5 million religious visas last year, up 11.3 percent from 2010, according to the Ministry of Haj website, with Umrah visas rising by one million in 2011 from 2010. Nearly two million foreign pilgrims arrived to perform Haj last year. Saudi Arabia's government is undertaking major infrastructure initiatives to provide better services to pilgrims including enhancement of the Holy Mosque in Makkah as well as expanding and upgrading King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, and Madina Airport, as well as an aggressive marketing strategy Overall pre-event visitor registrations for the four-day Arabian Travel Market show, which opens on April 30, 2012, are already up 132 percent from the same time last year, at nearly 2,000 visitors. Exhibitors from the Kingdom already include the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities, Al Hokair Group, Al Khazama Management Company and e
