Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA) has announced record growth in the Kingdom’s business events infrastructure, with a 32% year-on-year increase in capacity across 923 accredited venues.
The capacity increase
reflects investment growth in the Kingdom’s events sector in line with Vision
2030 tourism and event sector priorities, driving an exhibition space increase
of 320 per cent since 2018 to 300,520 square meters.
The figures were
released in SCEGA’s event infrastructure snapshot, highlighting capacity growth
across the Kingdom’s Provinces as new tourism destinations are opened to the
world.
Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province
accounted for 75 per cent of capacity, led by Riyadh Front Exhibition &
Conference Centre (70,000 sq. m), the Jeddah Superdome (34,000 sq. m) and the
Dhahran Expo Centre (25,600 sq. m).
Other provinces
establishing exhibition centres include Madinah (King Salman International
Conference Centre), AlUla (Maraya Hall), Asir (King Khalid University
Conference Centre and Najran (Prince Mishaal Exhibition Centre).
Saudi Arabia’s
business event sector opportunities will be showcased to more than 2,000 global
event leaders at the International Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and
Exhibitions (MICE) Summit between 26-27 November in Riyadh.
The second edition of
the event will provide attendees with unparalleled access to the world’s
fastest-growing business events sector.
“Saudi Arabia is
creating unprecedented growth and opportunities for the business events sector,
as Vision 2030 delivers a golden decade of events including Expo 2030 and the
FIFA World Cup 2034,” said Fahd Al-Rasheed, IMS host and Chairman of SCEGA
during his panel at TOURISE
“The International
MICE Summit will bring together decision-makers from across Saudi Arabia’s
provinces including newly established destination management organisations, to
collaborate with global event leaders and support Saudi tourism’s 2030 target
of welcoming 150 million visitors” added Al-Rasheed.
Saudi Arabia achieved
its initial 2030 tourism target of 100 million visitors seven years ahead of
schedule, prompting the target to be revised upward to 150 million visitors.
The Kingdom welcomed 60.9 million visitors—both local and international—in the
first half of 2025, with total tourism spending crossing SAR 161.4 billion ($43
billion).
The two-day IMS25
programme
will feature Ministers, private sector CEOs and commercial announcements
in a range of settings, including
innovation clusters, a future MICE leaders’ platform, and a celebration gala
dinner. -TradeArabia News Service