RIYADH: The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) had by the end of last year granted 2,382 licenses for tourist activities. The SCTA, up to the same date, had also observed 2567 violations of its regulations. According to a report on licensing and investment incentives covering 2010, the SCTA licensed 310 hotels and 963 furnished apartment facilities. 170 hotels were put on its hotel classification register, along with 673 furnished apartments. Sixty-one new tourist trip organizers were granted licenses, bringing the total number operating in the Kingdom to 158. The number of travel and tourism agencies rose by 190 in 2010, bringing the total to 782, 314 of them main offices and 468 branch offices. Licenses were given to 19 tourist guides to operate during the year, bringing the total to 132. Out of them 104 are general guides while 25 are regional ones, while three were granted licenses for guides at specific sites. The year 2010 saw 950 violations observed by the SCTA, bringing the total number of violations recorded to 2,567. A whopping 2,265 of the breaches concerned accommodation centers – 362 at hotels and 1,903 at furnished apartments – while 87 were committed by tourist trip organizers. Over 200 concerned travel and tourism agencies.
