RIYADH — The Kingdom has 2,036 hotels, which represents a 6 percent increase over last year, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has said in a report carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The report said the number of furnished apartments rose by four percent to reach 6,940 this year from 6,690 in 2016.
It said presently, the combined accommodation capacity of the hotels and furnished apartments is 506,716 rooms, which is an increase of 17 percent over last year.
The report said the travel and tourism agencies have increased by 16 percent to reach 2,294 and the number of trip organizers reached 519, which is an increase of 30 percent over their number in the previous year.
The report said there are 461 men and women tourist guides and 36 tourist resorts in the country.
According to the report, there are 225 hotels and 304 motels on various expressways in various parts of the Kingdom.
It said a total of 1,668 hotels are licensed against 368 unlicensed ones while there are 4,277 licensed furnished apartments and 2,663 unlicensed ones.
The report put the number of registered travel and tourism agencies at 2,034, which is a ratio of 89 percent against illegal operators.
Of the 519 trip organizers, 452, or 88 percent, are licensed while 50 percent of the 36 tourist resorts are not yet licensed.
