The Ministry of Commerce will soon be conducting inspection rounds on hotels and furnished apartments in Jeddah to monitor prices ahead of the spring break, which will commence on March 21, said Atiya Al-Zahrani, director-general of the ministry’s branch in Jeddah.

Al-Zahrani told Arab News that the inspection campaign would also monitor the quality of services and facilities offered to visitors and tourists.

“We noticed a more than 50-percent increase in the prices of hotels and apartments during the same period last year. More than 70 furnished apartments and 20 tourist resorts were shut down for violations of the ministry’s price regulations,” he said.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) in Makkah also said that a joint field committee, comprising members from the governorate, the municipality and the Jeddah Electricity Company, has closed down more than 40 facilities for violations.

Muhammad Al-Omari, director general of the SCTA in Makkah, said the commission’s report, released in the first quarter of this year, showed that the majority of violations in Jeddah involved a lack of licensing to operate in the hospitality sector and failure to adhere to safety standards.

“The SCTA issued more than 178 notices,” said Al-Omari. “We have asked tourism facilities to install cameras and use the Arabic language in formal paperwork and documentation.”

Statistics said that around 53 new licenses were issued, of which 29 were for furnished apartments, one for a hotel, one for a motel, nine for travel agencies, five for trip organizers and eight for tourist office partners.

“In addition, 21 licenses were renewed, of which five involved furnished apartments, one hotel, 18 travels agencies, two trip organizers and one tour guide,” he said.









He said that Jeddah witnessed the issuance of 53 new licenses last year. There were 781 violations recorded in the city, of which 236 were written, 146 were decisions to sanction, 52 closure orders, 154 final notices and 196 notices concerning a lack of municipality and civil defense licensing.