HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, president Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities, Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman, Emirates Airline & Group and Graham Cooke, chairman of World Travel Group and President of World Travel Awards meet at AHIC in Dubai where HRH

The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference has will be presented 2014 Leadership Award to HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, president and chairman of the Board of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

The title, presented in Dubai earlier, comes in recognition of his vibrant role in developing the hospitality sector in Saudi Arabia.

In his role as SCTA president and chairman, HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman has helped in driving the development of the hotel industry in Saudi Arabia with key initiatives that respond to the rowing domestic demand on hospitality.

A strong corporate sector along to the continued expansion of religious tourism, have been fuelling the growth in this sector in the Kingdom, and in Riyadh in particular.

The government’s efforts to drive tourism in Saudi have been demonstrated in the recent announcements made by SCTA.

These include the plans to expand five of its domestic airports to raise capacity, opening up the Kingdom’s domestic aviation sector to more airlines, and the latest visa scheme, which allows pilgrims to tour the Kingdom with a month’s extension on their Umrah visas.

All these initiatives are shaping the growth of hotels across the Kingdom, where the country had a total of 1,251 hotels and 2,582 furnished apartments in 2013, with a number of international names entering the market.