Saudi Gazette report MAKKAH — The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA)'s Makkah branch has started carrying out visits to hotels and residential units to ensure that such businesses do not jack up their prices in Eid. Abdullah Al-Siwat, SCTA's Makkah branch's executive director, said around 15 field teams will monitor room rates all over Makkah until the end of the Islamic month of Shawwal. Al-Siwat noted that the occupancy rate for this Eid would be different to that in previous ones due to the fact that this year's school vacation will be longer. That means more families and Umrah performers are coming to Makkah throughout this month. Al-Siwat urged visitors to make sure that the facility they wish to stay at has an SCTA license and that the price list is available at the reception desk. He urged them to report violations at 800 755 0000, warning that violators will face hefty fines and shutdowns. Meanwhile, SCTA President Prince Sultan Bin Salman confirmed that domestic tourism has achieved high growth recently despite shortcomings in the tourism infrastructure. He said, “Despite Saudis spending much on external tourism, spending on local tourism has risen as well this year by 12.5 percent.” The number of local tourist trips during June 2013 reached 2.1 million, according to the Tourist Research and Statistics Center (MAS), an affiliate of SCTA, compared to 2 million trips for the same period in 2012, he claimed. “There was a 5 percent growth in the number of trips. “The total spending exceeded SR3.4 billion in 2013 compared to SR3 billion for the same period last year, a 12.5 percent growth.” The center estimated tourist flights departing for overseas countries during June at 2.3 million compared to 2.1 million tourist flights during the same month last year. Spending on journeys abroad during June exceeded SR7.5 billion compared to SR6.9 billion last year. Prince Sultan disclosed details of the launch of the first grand tourist destination in the Kingdom, the SR2.5 billion Al-Oqair tourist project in Al-Ahsa, which is expected to open after the Eid Al-Fitr vacation. Talking to Al-Arabiya satellite channel, Prince Sultan said there is a very big demand for local tourism with the huge growth it is witnessing recently, despite the shortcomings local tourism is facing. The Kingdom is a huge tourist country, he said, adding that the focus is not only on tourism but on the mega economic and development projects. He gave the example of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah launching mega industrial and development projects in Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities at a cost of SR327 billion. Prince Sultan said Al-Oqair was a mega tourist destination and will compete in attracting tourists not only from within the Kingdom but also from the Gulf countries. He said the Kingdom has a number of projects that are awaiting two very important decisions, including the establishment of the Development and Tourist Investment Company. It is in its last stages and is considered to be a pivot for launching investment in mega tourism projects, attract private sector investment, develop the infrastructure for tourism and then facilitate the entry of the state in investments for tourist destinations. The second decision is the expansion in financing tourist facilities. He said tourism has become the biggest and most important source for providing job opportunities for different segments of society in all regions. He said the tourism sector in the Kingdom has provided over 189,000 job opportunities until 2012.
