New market study, "Saudi Arabia Tourism Report Q3 2011", has been published

Aug. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Saudi Arabia's tourism industry is unique in that despite the limitations of strict entrance visa regulations, the industry has strong growth potential. That said, uncertainty across the region as its political landscape changes may heighten security risks and place downward pressure on Saudi Arabia's tourism arrivals. Demonstrations have occurred in the Kingdom, with protesters calling for political reform, despite the fact that all such demonstrations are illegal. At present, we hold to our growth forecast for the country, yet stress that continued unrest may cause tourists to give the entire region a wide berth. BMI estimated that tourist arrivals to the country grew by 5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 12.91mn in 2010, after remaining constant in 2009 at just over 12mn. We forecast the number of tourist arrivals to grow by an average of 6% y-o-y to the end of our forecast period in 2015. One of the main drivers for the tourism industry is religious tourism. Saudi Arabia is home to two of Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, and every year millions of Muslims come to Mecca for the Hajj, the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. Business travel is also a growing area, given Saudi Arabia's status as the world's largest oil exporter, not to mention its other large industries such as defence.

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The hospitality sector looks set to grow in tandem with tourist arrivals. BMI forecasts that there will be 381,000 hotel rooms in Saudi Arabia by 2015, up from an estimated 242,000 in 2010. In 2009, a number of international chains opened their first hotels in the market, including Rotana, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Accor and Raffles Hotels & Resorts. Those already present in the market are expanding, with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Al Hokair Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Rezidor Hotel Group and Wyndham Hotel Group all having opened new hotels in 2010.

The Saudi authorities have said they want to diversify away from their dependence on oil, and the tourism industry has been a focal point. Government expenditure has focused on developing the religious tourism and business travel sectors in particular, and for this reason we forecast an increase in collective government expenditure (expenditure that cannot be assigned to a particular group of tourists) and individual government expenditure (which refers to investment in services with an identifiable individual customer) over the forecast period.

The government is also keen to develop its domestic tourism market in an effort to capture some of the capital spent by the millions of Saudi citizens that travel abroad each year. Saudi tourists mainly travel to other countries in the Middle East. Despite efforts to encourage more Saudis to holiday at home, we forecast the number of citizens travelling abroad increasing from an estimated 8.72mn in 2010 to 12.42mn by 2015. International tourism expenditure is also forecast to increase, reaching nearly US$10bn by the end of the forecast period.

Saudi Arabia has been boosting its international presence and tourism marketing. In January 2011, the Saudi Commission for tourism and antiquities published special pages on tourism in the kingdom on a number of interactive social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In 2010, the tourism board held 18 festivals, targeting all age groups. The festivals were held throughout the country and included sports events, entertainment and Saudi culture and heritage. Four new provincial museums, in Bahah, Tabuk, Hail and Dammam, are scheduled to be established in 2011-2012, while the tourism authorities have also licensed 40 private museums to be established using the latest technology to showcase Saudi Arabia's heritage and antiquities. Internationally, Saudi Arabia's pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, which ran from May to October, attracted more than 30,000 people every day. The Saudi pavilion was the second largest after China's. To further cement the country's global tourism footprint, the travel publisher Lonely Planet has announced that it intends to release a guide on tourist spots in Saudi Arabia; currently the Kingdom is included in the Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula guide. About Business Monitor International

Business Monitor International (BMI) offers a comprehensive range of products and services designed to help senior executives, analysts and researchers assess and better manage operating risks, and exploit business opportunities, across 175 markets.  BMI offers three main areas of expertise: Country Risk BMI's country risk and macroeconomic forecast portfolio includes weekly financial market reports, monthly regional Monitors, and in-depth quarterly Business Forecast Reports.  Industry Analysis BMI covers a total of 17 industry verticals through a portfolio of services, including in-depth quarterly Country Forecast Reports.  View more research from Business Monitor International at http://www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1010

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Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.