RIYADH: A new report from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) has revealed that there were over 230 violations of the law in the tourism sector in May, with most of the violations involving licensing and accommodation facilities.
The report issued recently by the licensing and quality assurance department of the SCTNH, which was made public on Thursday, said that violations in accommodation sector amounted to 201, while among travel and tourism agencies the number stood at 28. There was also one aberration detected among tour operators.
An SCTNH official on Friday said that the commission has carried out more than 2,100 field visits to accommodation facilities to check on licensing and classification in these facilities, and has also visited travel and tourist agencies, as well as tour operators and has conducted many other field visits as part of its commitment to provide quality service.
The errant facilities will be subjected to fines of up to SR100,000 according to the new tourism regulations, the official said. Moreover, the commission issued 375 operating licenses and classification certificates during the past month, out of which 311 were for the accommodation sector, eight were for tourist guides, 51 were for travel agencies and five were for tour operators across five different regions of the Kingdom. The number of classification certificates issued in the accommodation sector during May was 175, while the number of operating licenses issued reached 136, of which 77 were for furnished apartments, 44 were for hotels, 10 were for tourism inns and three for hotel apartments in addition to one license for roadside rest houses and one for resorts.
Accordingly, the total number of licenses issued by the end of May this year rose to 5,632 and the number of issued classification certificates 4,243.
The report further said that the total number of accommodation facilities rated by the SCTNH until the end of May 2016 was 870 hotels and 3,241 furnished apartments, while the total number of accommodation facilities which were licensed until May stood at 1,338 hotels and 4,098 furnished apartments.
The report drew attention to the fact that most of the classified hotels are in Makkah, which has about 368, followed by Madinah with approximately 175.
The report issued recently by the licensing and quality assurance department of the SCTNH, which was made public on Thursday, said that violations in accommodation sector amounted to 201, while among travel and tourism agencies the number stood at 28. There was also one aberration detected among tour operators.
An SCTNH official on Friday said that the commission has carried out more than 2,100 field visits to accommodation facilities to check on licensing and classification in these facilities, and has also visited travel and tourist agencies, as well as tour operators and has conducted many other field visits as part of its commitment to provide quality service.
The errant facilities will be subjected to fines of up to SR100,000 according to the new tourism regulations, the official said. Moreover, the commission issued 375 operating licenses and classification certificates during the past month, out of which 311 were for the accommodation sector, eight were for tourist guides, 51 were for travel agencies and five were for tour operators across five different regions of the Kingdom. The number of classification certificates issued in the accommodation sector during May was 175, while the number of operating licenses issued reached 136, of which 77 were for furnished apartments, 44 were for hotels, 10 were for tourism inns and three for hotel apartments in addition to one license for roadside rest houses and one for resorts.
Accordingly, the total number of licenses issued by the end of May this year rose to 5,632 and the number of issued classification certificates 4,243.
The report further said that the total number of accommodation facilities rated by the SCTNH until the end of May 2016 was 870 hotels and 3,241 furnished apartments, while the total number of accommodation facilities which were licensed until May stood at 1,338 hotels and 4,098 furnished apartments.
The report drew attention to the fact that most of the classified hotels are in Makkah, which has about 368, followed by Madinah with approximately 175.
