Concession Planning International (C.P.I.) has been appointed to advise Saudi Arabia?s General Authority of Civil Aviation (G.A.C.A.) on the establishment of a duty free business at the country?s three International airports of Jeddah, Riyadh and

Dammam.
C.P.I.?s involvement will include advising on the tender process, assisting with the appointment of a duty free operator and establishing duty free operations at all three airports.
Frank Gray, Managing Director of C.P.I. said: ‘We are delighted to have been appointed by G.A.C.A to set up a completely new duty free business in a part of the world which is seeing substantial traffic growth and at a time when the economy of the Kingdom is booming.’
His Excellency Abdullah Rehaimy, President of G.A.C.A. said: ‘The establishment of a dynamic duty free business in our international airports provides G.A.C.A. with an exciting opportunity to widen the commercial choice and services we offer to the 12.5 million international passengers using our airports every year. With C.P.I.?s support, G.A.C.A. is committed to the creation of visually stunning duty free facilities that will rival the best in the region’.
G.A.C.A. now intends to issue a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for companies interested in submitting proposals for the establishment, operation and management of duty free shops at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?s three international airports. Responses to the pre-qualification are due in at 1700 hours (Jeddah time) on Wednesday May 24, 2006 and are required in the English language. (See details at the end of this story).
Currently there are no duty free shops operating in the Saudi Arabian airports of King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Jeddah?s King Abdul Aziz International Airport, or Dammam?s King Fahd International Airport. But there is an inflight duty free programme onboard Saudi Arabian Airlines which generates sales of around $20m.
Quite what level of sales these new airport duty free shops will be able to generate remains to be seen, but they will be in good company in the region. Total duty free sales in the Middle East reached $1.2bn in 2004, representing a 4.8% share of the $25bn total, according to industry analysts Generation.
Comment: News of an imminent Saudi duty free tender was exclusively broken by The Business several months ago and comes at a time when the Kingdom is opening up its tourism industry and deregulating its economy. Concession Planning International (C.P.I.) is also a good choice consultancy partner and readers of The Business will be familiar with the wise words of part owner, Frank Gray.
The establishment of duty free shops is also in line with Saudi Arabia?s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last December. For the first time the Kingdom now has a national tourism development strategy that has been prepared by the Supreme Commission for Tourism.
The strategy consists of three stages: assessing the general situation to develop the national tourism strategy for the next 20 years; putting the next five-year plan in place; and presenting a detailed strategic plan to develop tourism in the regions in order to build the local tourism industry.
Saudi Arabia?s tourism strategy is also based on Islamic ethics and values and not just how much the sector can contribute to the national economy.
But it is wide ranging and includes increased training for passport authority employees, customs, public security, airlines, airport ground crews, information centres, and taxi drivers. Another key aim is to encourage more Saudi nationals to work in the tourism sector.
Liberalization is the buzzword in the Saudi economy at present and the government has taken a series of measures to improve the country?s investment climate and in particular removing obstacles facing private investors.
According to the World Tourism Organisation, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest outbound markets with tourists from the Kingdom spending $6.7bn annually on overseas travel.
The Supreme Commission for Tourism also reports that the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia is benefiting from its relatively new campaign, with inbound travel to the country reaching a high of 7.9m trips last year.

[The aforementioned Request for Qualification (RFQ) document can be obtained by contacting either the G.A.C.A. or its consultants, Concession Planning International Limited (C.P.I.) as follows:
Mr Fouzi Fathaldin, fax no: 961 685 6086, or Mr Mohamad Nada, E-Mail: [email protected]
Mr Frank Gray, E-Mail: [email protected]]