Preparations are on in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to stage the ninth edition of what is billed as the Middle East’s most popular food and hotel event.

The biennial Food and Hotel Arabia, the international event for food, beverages, catering, hotel equipment, supplies and services to be held between May 9 and 13 in 2004 at the Jeddah International Exhibition & Convention Centre, is recognised as a major showcase for the food industry. The concurrent staging of the complementary Propac Arabia exhibition, which covers all aspects of the food processing and packaging industries, further enhances Food and Hotel Arabia.  Jeddah, besides being Saudi Arabia’s centre for leisure and tourism, is also the hub for pilgrims visiting Makkah and Madina during the Haj and Umrah seasons. Over two million pilgrims pass through Jeddah during the Haj alone.

“The combo show is the ideal place to access the region’s vibrant and lucrative market,” said Al Harithy Company for Exhibitions Limited, Saudi Arabia’s leading event organiser.
Saudi Arabia is the single largest consumer of food and drink in the Gulf, accounting for 63 per cent of all imports to the region.  The rapid tourism growth in the kingdom will require an additional 50,000 hotel rooms and 75,000 furnished apartments in order to satisfy demand for transient accommodation. The service sectors of restaurants, shopping malls, leisure resorts and theme parks will also grow proportionately.

Food processing has become a major investment area in Saudi Arabia.  The country is the biggest producer of food and drink in the Gulf and the major market in the region for food ingredients. It also accounts for 72 per cent of investment into the region’s packaging industry.

“Hailed as an outstanding show by exhibitors and visitors alike, the five-day trade event — food & hotel Arabia — firmly underlines Jeddah’s position as the kingdom’s food industry centre. In the previous show, levels of business conducted were very high and feedback from exhibitors has been extremely positive, with reports of multi-million dollar business from several participants,” Al Harithy Company said.

An interesting feature of the Food & Hotel Arabia show is the Top Chef contest. The last show saw competitors flying in from Europe to compete against Saudi Arabia’s best chefs. The Top International Chef title went to Germany while both the Supreme Top Chef and Top Local Chef were won by Jeddah hotels. Popular TV personality chef Osama El Sayed headed the panel of judges.

“Early exhibitor bookings for 2004 recognise the importance of Food & Hotel Arabia and indicate that the exhibition will have a stronger and more significant international presence than in previous years, displaying confidence in the exhibition and the Saudi market in general,” Al Harithy Company said.