CALLS for the region’s hospitality sector to stand firm and together were made by Jonathan Worsley, co-organiser of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), in the wake of predictions of stagnant growth in global tourism by world tourism organisations.
He stressed that it is prudent for hospitality leaders to work together in managing the destination as a whole, and not just the projects under their remit.
“It is again time to look at destination management as a collaborative effort and not just at individual property or project management. Industry leaders need to discuss the big picture and look at how they can collectively manage in-bound traffic and maintain consumer spending levels.”
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasted a downward shift in global travel and tourism economy GDP contribution to one percent for 2009, in contrast to 10 per cent in 2008. However, the WTTC also expected the Middle East to buck this trend, suggesting that regional tourism will grow by one per cent in 2009. This would place the Middle East as the second growth region in world, behind Asia.
Worsley encourages the industry to be vigilant and proactive in the current economic climate stressing that under such conditions there is little room for error.
“The region’s tourism and hospitality leaders need to be particularly alert in these unprecedented times. With tourism long since stamped as the catalyst of economic growth for a number of regional markets, the sector needs to be quick off the mark and show maturity in handling the current cycle,” he said.
Worsley said that the upcoming AHIC 2009 conference from May 2 to 4 would provide a timely platform for such debate. This year’s conference theme is ‘The Challenge of Maintaining Growth’.
“We are working now to ensure that the 2009 agenda is relatively fluid in structure so that content and topics can be right up to the minute and in line with market movements in May,” he said.
The 2009 conference includes a half day summit with spotlight on Saudi Arabia, networking receptions, plus speakers including HRH Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, chairman of the board and secretary general of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).