Not long ago, a newlywed Saudi man booked a room at one of Jeddah's well-known five-star hotels. His car was vandalized and items were stolen from it while it was parked in the hotel's car park. The incident led to him being involved in an argument with a member of the hotel's staff and to him being locked in a room for two hours because he had filmed his heated argument with the hotel's receptionist. This was reported in Makkah newspaper more than one month ago. Recently, the newspaper reported that following an investigation by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), the hotel was fined and forced to financially compensate the man. I thank the SCTA for its response and intervention. I think this incident highlights several other issues, primarily the absence of a culture of observing the rights and obligations of hotels and their guests, something that should govern their relationship. It is this absence that leads to disputes. Hotels should be obliged to print the rules governing their relationship with guests and hand over copies to guests on arrival. With regard to the incident and what happened afterwards, it seems that staff at the hotel lacked experience in dealing with the guest and did not know how to deal with the issue. This means that they need to take specialized courses at colleges of tourism and hospitality and private training centers with passing these courses being a condition to be employed in the hotel business. Another matter is that the fine that was imposed on the hotel for locking up the guest should be deposited in the treasury of a competent government body. I hope that the amount was large and that part of it was used to sufficiently compensate the man for the emotional and social distress he had to endure. Shaming and naming the hotel would also be a deterring punishment and should be considered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
