News From : DagangHalal.com (05 Jul 2009)
Dubai: The most popular traditional destinations among Saudi tourists include London and the US, and there has also been a surge in interest in nearby destinations that include Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Oman, Syria and the UAE.
Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have also emerged as top Asian destinations for Saudi tourists.
Singapore has been particularly important since Saudi Arabia has become a top tourism market for the city-state following a 23 per cent increase in visitor arrivals from the kingdom in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board.
To address this demand, the Elaf Group of Companies, a business organisation serving the Saudi Arabian travel, tourism and hotel industries, has announced that it recently opened a new call centre in Jeddah and has introduced special corporate packages for exhibition organisers and exhibitors from the Kingdom, as part of a strategy to capitalise on the robust growth in the Saudi outbound tourism market.
According to statistics from the Saudi Tourism Information and Research Centre (MAS), the Kingdom accounted for over $5.9 billion (Dh21.65 billion) in outbound tourism expenditure by about four million Saudi tourists in 2008.
Majed Saud Kaki, Assistant General Manager, Elaf Group of Companies, said: “The significant reduction in travel costs has further boosted outbound travel in the Kingdom as an increasing number of residents are now exploring new destinations to visit.”
Source: gulfnews.com | Tourism & Travel
Link: http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Tourism_and_Travel/10328893.html