RIYADH: Riyadh Chamber of Commerce head of tourism Mohammed Al-Mugil has said that some 6,000 complaints were received against shops not giving promised discounts during the last couple of months.

Al-Mugil made the announcement during an interview with the press when Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar inaugurated the 11th Riyadh Shopping & Festival Recreation at the Al-Qasr Mall recently.

“During Ramadan, discounts will be enforced by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce at all shops in malls participating in the festival to encourage people to spend disposable incomes locally,” he said.

Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquity (SCTA), urged the 1,500 shops in the 11 malls participating in the festival to make shopping enjoyable for residents of the Saudi capital by giving discounts.

Mohsin Shaikh Al-Hassan, media consultant for the festival, said the shops could be found at the Riyadh Gallery, Kingdom Mall, Panorama, Njoud Mall, Hokair Landmark Mall, Al-Mrisi Mall, Al-Akariya Mall, Al Arouba Mall, Al Hayat Mall, among others. He said that these shops have taken care to make their offered packages as attractive as possible at greatly discounted rates.

Hotels have also expressed cooperation to make the festival a success under the auspices of the Office of the Riyadh Governor by offering good packages for customers during Ramadan, he said.

Al-Hassan expressed the hope that the other hotels join the campaign to make the festival enjoyable so that residents of the city enjoy and won’t leave to spend disposable incomes abroad.