JEDDAH: Using giant tents for entertainment, cultural, religious and marketing activities has become a noticeable phenomenon in big cities, such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and others in recent years because they are cheaper and more spacious than hotel halls and exhibition centers.
“The tents are more useful than hotel halls and exhibition centers, especially when the duration of the exhibition is long,” said Al-Sharif Abdullah Al-Hibaili, the general supervisor of the Jeddah Spring Shopping and Entertainment Festival 2009.
The festival, which ended on Wednesday, occupied an area of 1.5 square kilometers along the Tahliah Street. “The hotel halls are not suitable for exhibitions that sometimes extend for months,” he added.
Al-Hibaili said the tents were preferred for hosting exhibitions because of their low cost compared to hotel rent prices and because the number of exhibition halls in the Kingdom was very limited.
He said the tents were spacious enough to accommodate a number of simultaneous activities.
“There are cultural, artistic, marketing, entertainment and awareness activities taking place at the same time in the tent,” he said. “The hotels and exhibition centers will not be suitable for holding various activities simultaneously.”
Al-Hibaili said more than 500 exhibitors displayed various products and consumer goods during the Jeddah Spring Festival.
“The tents are mobile markets that can easily be moved from one town to another. The products on display there are relatively cheap. This is why many people are keen to visit them,” he added.
Al-Hibaili said more than 100 exhibitors from various countries, including China, India, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Lebanon and Yemen, were displaying their wares in the festival’s tent.
Hussein Al-Harithy, director of Jeddah International Exhibitions Company, said the air-conditioned and well-equipped tents were suitable for exhibitions.
“This phenomenon will continue as long as there are no enough exhibition centers in Saudi cities,” he said.
He said the regular exhibitions held at specialized exhibition centers were not allowed to sell products on display under instructions by the Commerce Ministry.
“This does not apply to exhibitions held in tents. This is why many people visit them,” he said.
