54 government and private entities from the Kingdom participated in the 22nd edition of the Arabian Travel Market 2015, which was held in Dubai recently from May 5-7 under the umbrella of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), giving it a good presence and interest from visitors from different nationalities of the world. The Kingdom was represented at the pavilion by the Tourism and Antiquities Authority and a number of its partners working in the travel industry, national tourism, tour organization, tourist accommodation, and Umrah companies.

Reaching the Gulf markets

<The Kingdom's participation aimed to highlight the Kingdom's unique cultural and tourism assets, in addition to marketing our distinctive tourist destinations to the citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The Kingdom's pavilion will serve as a link for participating investors with their international counterparts, enable local tourism companies to reach the Gulf and other international markets, as well as provide correct information about the Kingdom as a tourist and economic destination to the international and Gulf media.

54 Saudi participants

<Hamad Al-Sheikh, Vice President for Marketing and Programs at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, explained that the Gulf market is one of the most important target markets, especially since citizens of the GCC countries do not need a visa to enter the Kingdom. He pointed out that the Kingdom's pavilion this year included 54 participating entities, including the General Investment Authority and the National Program for Exhibitions and Conferences, in addition to more than 25 tour operators, hotels and tourism companies that aim to market the Kingdom as a distinctive tourist destination.

Through participation, the Kingdom displayed tour packages aimed at travel agencies who are present in abundance to buy such packages and arrange programs for individual tourists and groups from the Gulf to visit the Kingdom, in addition to displaying a number of tourism patterns that the regions are famous for, a crafts and handicrafts pavilion, and an investment tourism destinations pavilion.

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Supporting and stimulating the tourism investment environment

During the forum, the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities provided visitors with an overview of the Authority's role in supporting and stimulating the tourism investment environment by coordinating with financial institutions to support the financing of tourism development projects and providing investment incentives for businessmen, and the pavilion presents a part of the Authority's efforts in developing some programs related to hotel facilities, tourism guidance, exhibition and conference industry, and national tourism human resources development.

General Investment Authority

The General Authority for Investment (GAFI) participated in a corner in the Kingdom's pavilion, in which it presented part of its role in developing and increasing local and foreign investment, proposing executive plans and rules to create the investment climate in the Kingdom, monitoring and evaluating the performance of local and foreign investment, preparing studies on investment opportunities in the Kingdom and promoting them.

The General Authority for Investment (GAFI) participated in a corner in the Kingdom's pavilion.

Media coverage of the Kingdom's participation

On the other hand, the Kingdom's participation in the Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai was followed by the media and news agencies, and the pavilion witnessed the presence of many reporters of newspapers and magazines specialized in the travel and tourism industry since the start of the exhibition activities on May 4, and CNN Arabic, Reuters, and Saudi satellite channels such as Al Akhbariya and Culture recorded interviews with some Authority officials and participants in the Kingdom's pavilion.

The Kingdom's participation in the Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai has been followed by the media and news agencies.