ABHA, 30 March 2003 — The hotel and tourism industry has expressed resentment at the Passport Department’s decision to reduce the validity of workers’ re-entry visas to two months, Al-Watan newspaper reported.
Many investors in the industry believe that the decision will cause them huge losses because their activity is seasonal and they cannot afford to pay workers’ salaries when there is little or no business. The Passport Department’s decision has actually caused businessmen to reconsider their investment, Al-Watan said.
Saudi businessman Awad Al-Ghanem decided not to invest in a multimillion-riyal project in Jizan. He said that he chose Jizan for investment instead of Jeddah because Jizan did not have any huge tourism projects. He said he was stopping his investment until things got clearer. Al-Ghanem said he could not afford paying salaries for hundreds of workers throughout the year, while their actual employment was limited to a few months.
Awad Abdulhadi, manager of Shafa Hotel, said he has 50 to 60 men working mostly during the summer. Their total salary reaches SR70,000 a month. He usually spares them for six months because his real business activity lasts only four months a year. He described the Passport Department’s decision as unfair. The move would hit hard such areas as Jeddah, Makkah and Abha whose activities are seasonal.
Hani Halwani, another hotel manager, said that the two-month re-entry visa for workers would harm his business. He has 400 workers who work only during the summer.
Halwani said this would not only affect his business but the national economy as well.
Mahroos Al-Mahroos, deputy manager of Al-Salam Hotel, said he wished to see the decision scrapped and status quo restored. Previously, workers were routinely granted a six-month re-entry visa.
Al-Mahroos said that if his 70 employees at the hotel remained without work it would harm his business.
Ateyah Al-Ghamdi, owner of the Maseef Hotel, said the two-month visa would adversely affect fake institutions that provide cover to overstayers. The decision, however, does not affect the hotel and furnished apartment industry because their activities last only four months a year.
According to Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Sajeeni, director general of the Passport Department, the decision would serve businessmen and hit hard those who provide cover to overstayers.
Sajeeni noted that there was great resentment against overstayers and the way they harmed the national economy and security. The current wave of complaints therefore did not make sense, he added.
