Introduction
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia assumes a commitment to developing the meeting industry, realizing its importance in diversifying the economic base, away from oil production and export revenues. This industry can generate huge revenues that contribute greatly to the gross domestic product, and become a basic driver of the national economy. The Kingdom is the economic hub for the entire region, it is the largest regional economy, and one of the members of the G20, which strengthens its position as a center for business events. Therefore, the Kingdom has distinctive features such as its strategic geographic location, the Arab and Islamic depth of being a Muslim destination, civilization and history, a pioneering investment power, a diversified economy, new and modern facilities and hotels, strong infrastructure, advanced education and technology, and ease of systems and procedures. These elements are able to attract international exhibitions, conferences, forums and meetings, enabling the Kingdom to occupy a high position among the leading countries in the world.
The Kingdom always seeks, in its development plans, to diversify the economic base, diversify its sources of economic production, support the growth of the private sector, with the aim of reducing dependence on oil as a major resource for the national economy, and providing job opportunities for Saudi youth by enhancing the contributions of the private sector, and attracting foreign capital to support investment projects. The Kingdom also wants to strengthen its competitive position among the countries of the world, so it makes sustainable development a basic strategic choice. The Kingdom is moving forward confidently towards stimulating the growth of the meeting industry, as the Kingdom targets a number of advanced economic and investment sectors, including health, education, training, sports, entertainment, trade, housing, the financial and agricultural sector, cultural affairs, information technology, petrochemicals, energy, and Hajj. And Umrah in order to encourage the holding of business events for those sectors.
The Kingdom is witnessing a remarkable growth in the meeting industry, due to the economic and construction boom witnessed by the Kingdom, the availability of facilities, services and strong infrastructure, and the Kingdom has strong sectors that have the ability to invest in the meeting industry, accompanied by a continuous government trend to support economic development in general.
There are strengths that make the Kingdom a promising destination for the meetings industry, which are as follows:
- The Kingdom's vision 2030 for the present and the future.
- The government's growing interest in diversifying the economic base.
- A promising private sector on the verge of growth and development.
- Promising investment potentials in the establishments of this sector.
- A growing role of the private sector targeting the meeting industry.
- Quality hotels in strategic locations.
- Experience in hosting large numbers of visitors.
- The largest country in the Gulf in terms of population and economic strength.
- The highest GDP growth rate in the Gulf region and the Middle East.
- The largest oil producer in the world.
- Strong infrastructure in the fields of communications and transportation at the international and local levels.
- The Kingdom is distinguished by the development of many specialized economic sectors such as: oil industries, energy, medicine, water treatment and desalination, dates, and information technology.
- The Kingdom is witnessing a great growth in academic institutions.