With the onset of the summer holiday season, the rental prices of furnished apartments are expected to increase dramatically, in some cases by as much as 200 percent. Despite the demand by officials that apartment owners put a stop to the random, uncontrolled increase of rental prices, holidaymakers will be asked to pay almost twice the price for furnished accommodation this summer than they would have paid during non-peak times of the year. “As soon as the summer vacation begins we start increasing the price of our apartments by 200 percent, since the summer season is the best time of the year for us to do business,” said Arafat Mohammed, an accountant at Shagra Plaza for furnished apartments and suites. According to Mohammed, the summer rental increases happen randomly in the absence of strict rules or limitations from the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). “The increase in rental prices has already been decided upon by apartment owners, but we announce the new prices at the beginning of the summer vacation,” he explained, adding, “We will announce this summer's prices as soon as the school examinations are over.” The lack of official control on furnished apartment prices is one reason why prices increase dramatically every summer. “We have never ever had a visit from any governmental body to check on our prices, and as far as I know there is no new rule to prevent us from increasing prices as much as we want,” said Abdullah Al-Harbi, who works as a receptionist at furnished apartments located on Jeddah's Al-Hamra Street. The Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has submitted recommendations for limiting the increases of rental fees charged for furnished apartments, but till now there has been no official response to these recommendations. According to Smir Qomosani, a member of the JCCI's tourism committee, there are two important steps that should be taken by the concerned authorities. The first is that summer rental prices should be announced in advance so that tourists can choose where they want to spend the summer. “Secondly, there should be a limit as to how much prices can increase,” he added. “We have already submitted recommendations to the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, but have not yet received a response,” he explained. “There has been an official decision to control hotel prices this summer, but furnished apartment prices are still rising because they were not included in the decision,” said Hani Hafez, a member of the National Commission for Exhibitions and Conferences, and the assistant head of the Tourism Committee at the Taif Chamber for Commerce and Industry. “This year we expect a large increase in the number of Saudi tourists who decide to spend the summer vacation inside the Kingdom, but we are afraid that the increase in the prices charged by furnished apartments may have a negative effect on domestic tourism,” he said.
