Travel within the GCC, which currently accounts for over 30 percent of the inbound traffic for GCC countries, is expected to grow by a further 8 percent in 2012 as an increasing number of GCC families who chose to travel abroad will travel within the GCC, said CMPi UAE, organizers of Middle East Attractions, Amusements, Parks, Leisure and Entertainment International Trade Exhibition (MEAAPLE). The three-day at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) will start on Feb. 2 GCC outbound travelers spent in excess of AED44.04 billion on vacations in 2007 and this figure is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6 percent to AED55.60 billion by 2012, according to industry estimates. “The typical GCC tourist prefers a ‘family-oriented' tourism experience and the profile of the leisure travelers to the GCC will no longer be limited to sun, sea, sand, shopping and security, the five S's on which the Gulf tourism industry has been developed and will now have the added alternative of entertainment resorts, theme parks and heritage attractions,” said Paul Grinnall, show director of MEAAPLE. He noted that more than 30 multi-faceted entertainment resorts and theme parks are being built in the GCC until 2012 with a projected investment of AED228 billion ($62 billion). “This diversification of the tourism product offering will result in increased business and additional guest nights for the GCC countries,” he stressed. While oil has been crucial to the GCC's development since the late 1960s, the public and private sector investment in tourism development and the figures denoting growth provide encouraging evidence. “With the constant innovation and development of the GCC tourism infrastructure, we are positive that tourism will play an increasingly important role in the sustainable transformation of the regional economies,” Grinnall added. “Tourism prospects are closely tied to general economic prospects as is seen in both developed and developing countries and looking ahead, there is good reason to be optimistic that this trend will continue,” he said. MEAAPLE is a unique international trade event dedicated to the development, operation, management and maintenance of amusements, attractions, theme parks, tourism and resort developments, and leisure and entertainment facilities across the Middle East, catering for the “Out of Home Leisure” industry. MEAAPLE offers the opportunity to influence, network, educate and build relationships with major developers, investors, retailers, senior decision makers, operators, manufacturers and suppliers in the Middle East. MEAAPLE will provide a unique platform to further enhance and support the vision for attractions, amusements, theme parks, tourism and resort developments, and leisure and entertainment growth in the Middle East. There is demand from a wide spectrum of facilities including culture & arts, heritage villages, theme parks, hotels & resorts, recreational & leisure parks, retail & shopping malls and cinemas & multiplexes, water parks, amusement parks, zoos & wildlife parks, golf courses, family entertainment centers, museums & science centers, aquariums, sports & spa clubs, health & fitness clubs, equestrian & polo clubs. __
