Izzeddin Ahmed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Several heritage guesthouses are set to open in the historical Al-Balad (downtown) area of Jeddah, according to an official at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). “The project will have investments of more than SR200 million,” Mohammed Al-Amri, director of SCTA in Makkah region told Saudi Gazette. The guesthouses will be managed by the Saudi Company for Hotels and Guesthouses which was recently established under a decision by the Council of Ministers with a capital of SR250 million. Al-Amri said negotiations were being held with several owners of historic buildings to encourage them to become co-investors in the project. “Some of these owners belong to prominent families in Jeddah. The negotiations have come a long way and some of them are in their final stages,” he said. The heritage guesthouses will provide a new style of hotel and tourism services and the SCTA is planning to open similar guesthouses in a number of cities and towns in the Kingdom. While speaking at a workshop on Saturday, Al-Amri talked about the procedures of obtaining licenses for tourist accommodations and resorts and the current classification process. Government officials, tourism sector investors and owners of tourist villages, resorts and sea cabins attended the workshop. Al-Amri revealed that Makkah region has about 140 tourist facilities with investments of more than SR1.5 billion. “These facilities will be better organized after they are classified,” he said. The first phase of the classification process covered hotels while the second phase covered furnished apartments and the third and final one, which began about a month ago, targeted resorts and tourist villages. “When the process of classification is completed, we will be able to stabilize prices which are currently fluctuating,” he said. Al-Amri also said the classification will not only set the amount of money hotels and resorts can charge customers but will create an atmosphere of fair competition. A number of tourist investors who attended the workshop criticized the method of classification. They said the classification provides for procedural and architectural measures which are not applicable to exiting facilities. Khalil Bahadir, member of the national committee for tourism and hotels at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed out that the classification procedures asked for a reception area of 500 square meters to include restaurants. “This is impossible to do in existing establishments,” he said. Mohammed Al-Adouni, CEO of a company for hotel management and operation, asked the SCTA to support the marketing activities of the tourism establishments. “We are active only for 140 days a year especially during the summer school vacations,” he said.
