imported 2024-03-17 17:43:08
“Our gardens really transport you away from the reality of everyday life in Cairo. I mean, when you sit in a garden and enjoy your coffee, you could be anywhere in the world. The birds are singing; you don’t hear the traffic. It’s just amazing. No place else in Cairo can even closely approximate that.”
“If we look at the numbers during the last 3 years, we can see that the numbers have been fluctuating from up to down and so on. Egypt’s tourism shows its resilience,” stated Ambassador Nasser Hamdy, former Chairman of Egyptian Tourism Authority.
“Tourism is one of the major sources of income for our country and it has been deeply affected since 2011. In 2014, slowly but surely we are going to start to see more positive results,” reveals Mahmoud ElKeiy, General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Residence.
Abdullah Alomran, CEO of Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre (RICEC)
According to statistics from SCTA, which is the tourism authority here, the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre´s share of the total MICE visitors is 10%. Therefore 10% of the visitors coming to Saudi Arabia for MICE purposes have visited the Exhibition Centre here in Riyadh.
In 2013, RICEC was able to attract more than 1 million visitors, 3,200 exhibitors – 60% of whom were international exhibitors. As for the outlook, Alomran optimistically states: “We expect from now until 2017 to have growth of around 10 to 17%, mainly in Riyadh. There will be more projects happening and venues opening around the Kingdom. Overall, there will definitely be growth of over 10% here.”
Riyadh is the capital city and is one of the most important and populated cities in Saudi Arabia. We have more than 5 million people living in Riyadh. With the launch of the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre (RICEC) in 2009, the MICE sector started to grow more and more as this centre encouraged more people to come to Saudi Arabia for such purposes.
One of the pioneering companies in the business tourism segment is Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre (RICEC). Business tourism is booming with the total revenue generated by conference and exhibition visitors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012, reaching USD 2.3 billion and 3.2 million exhibition and conferences visitors.
Aside from its scientific educational mandate, Kuwait Scientific Center is a favourite location for corporate venues, events & conferences. Mijbil Mutawa, Kuwait Scientific Center’s Chairman, talks about KSC as a great place for corporate venues & events.
