Tourism & Hospitality | Monday 28 March, 2016 6:28 am |

Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar opened the 9th edition of Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market (STTIM) on Sunday.
The event is being held at Riyadh International Center for Exhibitions and Conferences and the inaugural ceremony was attended by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) President Prince Sultan bin Salman and a large number of tourism officials, businessmen, investors, experts, dignitaries and journalists.
The five-day event, which ends on April 1, has two major parts — exhibition and conference — as well as the distribution of the SCTNH awards for excellence.
The exhibition has attracted around 300 local companies and 13 tourism development boards from the Kingdom’s 13 regions. They are displaying a wide range of their tourism products and services, and investment opportunities to almost 25,000 expected visitors.
Around 80 local and international tourism experts will take part in more than 30 conference sessions and 40 training workshops for visitors on travel and tourism related topics.
The topics include investment in hotels, the economics of national heritage, organizing tourism travels and programs, investment in tourism infrastructure, and e-marketing of tourism events and destinations.
During the event, the SCTNH excellence awards 2016 were distributed to winning tourism establishments from among hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and malls, tourism destinations and sites, entertainment cities, and distinguished Saudis in tourism services. 
Majid Al-Hokair, deputy chairman of Al-Hokair Group for Tourism and Development, told Arab News that this event has contributed considerably to the advancement of tourism business in the Kingdom as well educating professionals on tourism and latest developments.