TAIF: Winter tourism losses in the Kingdom this year are expected to be SR250 million because of a lack of promotion of the concept of tourism in the winter months, according to sources. Annual summer tourism income is normally SR500 million. The sources said that income from winter tourism is expected to increase in future because the concept was only introduced two years ago in a number of regions. These regions made good profits from accommodation, including hotels, restaurants, resorts and recreation sites. Lu'ay Qenaitah, Chairman of the Tourism Committee at Taif Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), said the lack of awareness of the concept of winter tourism and the resultant lack of sufficient promotion have resulted in great losses for owners of tourism projects and have seen them reduce their investments in the sector. He said some tourism projects are now “hibernating” and operators have even failed to pay their employees' salaries due to the great losses they have incurred. He said Jizan is an exception, because it is the only city that has established winter programs due to individual efforts to prepare hotels, furnished apartments and restaurants to receive visitors. He called for measures to boost the culture of winter tourism in the Kingdom by announcing programs for the winter vacations. Engineer Ahmad Al-Eisa, Director of the Licenses and Quality Administration in the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), said winter tourism is linked to tourism activity. For this reason, it cannot be compared to summer tourism which is linked to the end of the academic year holidays and vacations for employees. He said the SCTA had referred a study for royal approval five years ago to activate tourism in the Kingdom throughout the year. In a related development, a recent statistical study has shown a rise in hotel occupancy in the Kingdom to 68.1 percent during the third quarter of 2010 (from July to September 2010) compared to 57.9 percent for the same period in 2009. This indicates a growth rate of 10.2 percent. Meanwhile, furnished apartments have achieved an occupancy rate of 54.4 percent for the same period in 2010 compared to 54 percent during the same period in 2009, with a growth rate of 0.4 percent. The accommodation sector statistical report for the third quarter of 2010 issued by the Information and Tourism Research Center at the SCTA has indicated an increase in the number of sold hotel rooms to 9.4 million during the third quarter of 2010 compared to 7.5 million rooms during the same period in 2009, with a growth rate of 24.9 percent. The total number of sold apartments during the same period in 2010 reached 7.5 million compared to 8.6 million during the same period in 2009, showing a drop of 12.8 percent.
