Riyadh Travel Fair (RTF) 2018, Saudi Arabia’s leading travel industry showcase, opened its doors for the 10th consecutive year in Riyadh yesterday evening (April 10) with more than 300 exhibitors from 55 countries.

The fair, organised by Asas Exhibition and Conference Organizing Company, is being held at Prince Sultan Grand Hall, Al Faisaliah Hotel, from April 10 to 13.

The fair was inaugurated by Hamad Ali Alshowair, vice chairman of the board of directors of Riyadh chamber.

The four-day event will become the focus of business networking opportunities, insightful seminar sessions, ministerial discussions and the recognition of twelve months of the tourism industry’s achievements.

Bander Algryni, general manager of Asas Exhibitions, said: “The 2018 edition is the largest Riyadh Travel Fair to date thereby extending our prominence as the leading travel and tourism exhibition in the kingdom. More than 270 exhibitors from tourism boards, airlines, tour operators and hotels from more than 60 countries are currently present in the exhibition.

“It’s been a year of growth not only for the tourism and hospitality industry in the kingdom, but for RTF; and with Saudi nationals increasingly travelling overseas at a greater number year on year, the opportunities that the RTF provides for domestic and overseas destinations, hospitality service providers and other tourism-related businesses, to directly meet with the kingdom’s leading travel professionals and travellers has never been more significant.”

Celebrating its 10th anniversary as “Saudi Arabia’s Leading Travel Trade and Consumer Show”, RTF 2018 has completely sold out ahead of its milestone show this April, attributed to a tremendous surge in booth bookings from the global market, an announcement by the exhibition’s organizer ASAS Exhibition said.

RTF 2018 show holds its strong Middle East support with 60 percent of exhibiting companies from the GCC region including Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Government of Sharjah (Commerce & Tourism Development Authority), Ministry of Tourism Bahrain and Oman Tourism.

RTF 2018 features many firsts for the travel trade and consumer show. For the first time this year, RTF 2018 is hosting Scandinavian tourism boards such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland as well as Greece, among many others.

Tanzania and Spain are making their debut at RTF 2018 this year, joining other European and African tourism boards including Czech Republic, Poland, Bosnia, Greece, Turkey, South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.

While Asian markets have increased their presence in this year’s show floor, North and South East Asia feature prominently during RTF 2018 too with the participation of Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.

“As we celebrate our 10th anniversary this year, the substantial growth in exhibitors underlines how RTF has firmly established itself as the leading industry event in the country. The Saudi Arabian outbound market continues to attract huge interest and we are delighted to see such levels of growth from various key markets at the show this year. As early as now, we are accepting bookings for the 2019 show,” said Sheikh Hafeez, director of Sales and Marketing, ASAS Exhibition, organiser of RTF.

Exploring “The Innovation of Travel”, RTF 2018 features industry heavyweights from the travel and tourism sector as well as global brand names from the technology sector.

The Riyadh Travel Fair is open to both travel professionals and the general public looking for in-depth destination information and special deals. Visitors to the 2018 edition will be able to interact directly with various tourism authorities, hotels, airlines and travel agents from around the world. The Arabian Gulf region have a strong presence at the fair including pavilions sponsored by; Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority (Strategic Partner), Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority (Platinum Sponsor), Indonesia Tourism (Diamond Sponsor), Al-Riyadh Travel & Tourism (Gold Sponsors), Czech Republic Tourism (Silver Sponsor). National pavilions exhibiting include those of Egypt, Bahrain, Poland, South Korea, Greece, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Scandinavia, Singapore, Spain, to name just a few.

Exhibitors from Asia, Oceania, Europe and North Africa are also present, along with hotels, airlines, travel agencies, online booking sites, car rental and tourism companies such as Rotana, R Hotels, Lufthansa, Al Shidi Group, Royal Caribbean International, Capital Travel, and Silkway Travel, to name a few.

Riyadh Travel Fair is organized by Asas Exhibition and Conference Organizing company under the sponsorship of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority as Strategic Partner. - TradeArabia News Service