Riyadh, Jumada II 19, 1437, March 28, 2016, SPA -- Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region and the head of the Tourist Development Council, opened on Sunday evening the ninth edition of the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market (STTIM 2016) organized by Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage at Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. Upon arrival at the venue, the Governor of Riyadh Region was received by Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, President of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and a number of officials. At the outset of the ceremony which was held on this occasion, President of the World Travel and Tourism Council Gerard Lawless delivered a speech in which he hailed current development in the field of tourism in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its efforts to develop travel and tourism sector and the spreading the cultural of tourism, stressing the importance of the tourism industry for the global and national economy. Afterwards, President of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage delivered a speech in which he hailed the great attention given to tourism and national heritage sectors by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, pointing out that tourism is not just entertainment, but an integrated industry and has a great contribution to the national economy. In this regard, he explained that the national tourism's contribution to the GDP has more than doubled, saying that the added value of the tourism sector rose from 36.5 billion riyals in 2005, to 85.5 billion riyals in 2015 and the spending on domestic tourism trips also doubled from 55 billion riyals in 2005 to 105 billion riyals in 2015. At the end of the ceremony, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz delivered a speech and handed over the Awards of Tourism Excellence for this year and honored the sponsors of the STTIM 2016. Then, the Governor of Riyadh Region inaugurated the accompanying exhibition of the Saudi Travel And Tourism Investment Market 2016 and toured the pavilions of the exhibition which is participated by 300 domestic and foreign tourist agencies. --SPA 02:10 LOCAL TIME 23:10 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w