Al Faisaliah Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh was among the big winners at the Tourism Excellence Awards 2012 (TEA).

Apr 5, 2012 23:37 

It scooped the honor for the best luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia, while Marina Dreams Tourism and Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts shared the best specialist resort award.

The announcement was made on Wednesday night on the sidelines of the Travel and Tourism Investment Market 2012 (TTIM) organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) at the Riyadh Exhibition Center. As many as 140 companies and agencies participated this year.

SCTA chief Prince Sultan bin Salman distributed the prizes to the winners.

Granada Center in Riyadh and Red Sea Mall in Jeddah were the best shopping malls according to the judges. The award for entertainment and best tourist festival went to Al-Mujneb Summer 32 and Spring Festival in Buraidah.

Dr. Abdulmohsen bin Abdullah Al-Hajji, chairman of the jury, said these awards were one of the important initiatives of the SCTA that aims to develop a competitive and professional hospitality and tourism industry in the Kingdom.

In his speech, Al-Hajji said members of jury were drawn from various parts of the Kingdom and abroad. They were all experts in certain areas of the tourism industry and hospitality, he said. He also revealed the total number of candidates registering online this year were than 600, an increase of about 50 percent from last year. "It was a significant increase that could go a long way in stimulating interest in these awards in the coming sessions," he added.

The candidates were whittled down to a shortlist of 124.

According to Al-Hajji, a number of new award categories were included in this year covering more than 20 activities in various sectors. They included tourist accommodation, shopping, entertainment, restaurants and tourism activities and programs in addition to working in tourism.

Meanwhile, Prince Sultan said the Asir province pavilion was as "wonderful as its people."

SCTA Executive Director for Asir and secretary general for tourism development in the region Abdullah Mataen said the Asir stand this year was more than an introduction to the area, it offered the chance to view investment opportunities and marketing tourism in the region.

He added several bodies were involved in Asir's campaign to promote tourism opportunities there, including SCTA's branch in the region, the Tourist Development Council, the region's secretariat, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Asir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prince Sultan College for Tourism, Tihama travel agency, among others.

Meanwhile, an economist said Saudi Arabia moved up to 62nd in the global index of competitive travel and tourism in 2011 after being ranked 71st in 2009.

The rankings jump was due to significant development in terms of human resources, infrastructure, investment procedures, tourism laws, and competitive prices. Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Al-Wabil, Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary-general, spoke at the event's third working session on Tuesday on the reality and future of tourist investment in small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom. He said tourism establishments in the Kingdom are limited to 10 main categories, including hotels, furnished flats, travel agents, restaurants, and cafes.

He added the number of tourist companies grew by over a half between 2004 to 2010. Almost two thirds of them are focused on catering sector, and they alone increased by 20 percent. According to him, SMEs working in the sector account for about 97 percent of total tourist establishments.

He said the recession had a negative impact on the local tourism industry, which recorded a drop in income of 12 percent between 2009 and 2010. On the contribution of tourism to economic development, he said: "Tourism increased Saudi Arabia's GDP by 4 percent, accounted for 8 percent of non-oil GDP, and 12.3 percent of private sector GDP. The tourism sector absorbs 6.1 percent of total workers in the Kingdom and 6.9 percent of workers in the private sector. The percentage of Saudization in the tourism sector is 26 percent."

He stressed that the volume of loans obtained by hotels and resorts between 1970 and 2010 amounted to SR2.37 billion.

He stressed the need to expedite the establishment of a fund for tourism development and simplify the procedures required to obtain financing, and to give an appropriate grace period, as well as promote the participation of commercial banks in lending and the financing of small and medium enterprises, and create private commercial banks specialized in SMEs, among others.

© Arab News 2012