The coastal cities of the Kingdom have much to offer in the way of marine tourism. With people flocking in large numbers to these destinations from within the Kingdom and abroad every season to enjoy the mild climate and take advantage of the different tourism experience, it is surprising that the tourism programs on offer this Eid season were not up to expectation.

A number of visitors to Jeddah complained about the high prices of marine tours which reached up to SR500 per hour. Workers operating the boats said that they had received instructions from the owners of the resorts and chalets to raise prices during the Eid holidays.

“The workers of the marine boats were asked to increase the boat rentals to take advantage of the increased number of tourists,” said Husam, owner of a marine equipment store.

He said the price of a boat having a capacity for 12 people with a toilet and an additional a room increased from SR300 to SR500 or SR600, while the price of a pleasure boat increased from SR200 to SR300 an hour. The rents of jet skis also rose from SR300 to SR500 an hour.

Workers in this sector said that despite the increased prices there is a lot of demand for marine activities, which are considered one of the most important activities during Eid.

There was a dramatic rise in the demand for jet skis during the Eid vacation with the price increase becoming a regular phenomenon owing to a lack of monitoring of the operators and no checks on their equipment.

Many vacationers demanded that marine tourism be more organized and that violators of safety regulations regarding the equipment be dealt with properly. They also urged for setting procedures to deal with accidents and casualties at sea.

A number of vacationers also called for more control over prices to protect consumers and encourage domestic tourism.