DAMMAM: Citizens have strongly criticized entertainment cities for imposing additional fees on families and children during Eid Al-Fitr in order to protect them from being subjected to accidents.

They described the fees as a “levy” that represent a new kind of exploitation and extortion that spoils the holiday cheer. Additionally, onlookers have critiqued what they describe as the manipulation of devices to help venues make more money.

Abdul Hakim Sa’d, said: “Even if the prices are normal for most of the games provided in the entertainment cities, this comes at the expense of the time available for the children to enjoy playing. Most of the entertainment cities deliberately deducted half of the time specified for games through the manipulation of the devices to make them stop after a short period, in order to gain more money.”

Regarding additional fees, Khalid Omran confirmed that the imposition of fees by some entertainment cities during the feast is unacceptable: “The imposition of an extra fee of SR10 to SR20 for each person entering the entertainment city represents a form of exploitation, even though the organizers know that the parents do not engage in the games and are only there to maintain the safety of their children.”

On the other hand, Mansour Abdulaziz, an investor, said: “Imposing fees on adults and children to enter the centers is normal, especially as these holiday periods are rare and only happen once a year. Thus, these fees are intend to offset part of the large sums of money that the entertainment cities pay each year for the development and the purchase of new devices. This justifies the imposition of the fees in these cities by investors.”

Tufail Al-Yousuf, an engineer and a researcher in the entertainment cities industry, considers the entry of specialized international companies to the Saudi market as a sign of real progress. However, he said that it also highlights the need to develop both the quality of the games and the security and safety procedures of the venues, due to the keenness of these companies to provide quality entertainment.