The rates of hotel rooms and residential units in the Central Area of the Grand Mosque increased 150 percent on the first day of Ramadan due to an influx of Umrah performers and visitors. A room in a five-star hotel costs SR950 a day while a five-star suit costs SR3,000 a day. Al-Watan Arabic daily visited several hotels and residential units in the Central Area. It was found hotels and residential units around the Grand Mosque were100 percent full. A large number of Umrah performers and visitors decided to stay at hotels outside the Central Area. Sa'ad Jameel Al-Qurashi, Chairman of the National Committee for Haj and Umrah, expects the income of Makkah hotels and residential units to exceed SR2 billion in Ramadan. “This is due to the massive influx of Umrah performers and visitors coming from abroad, especially Gulf countries. Besides, many citizens are keen on spending the entire Ramadan in Makkah.” Some Umrah performers prefer to stay in hotels in Al-Aziziya District and use public transport to get to the Grand Mosque, Al-Qurashi added. This has to be one of the most successful Umrah seasons in the past four years in terms of the large numbers of Umrah performers and visitors from in and outside the Kingdom, according to Al-Qurashi. “The large influx of Umrah performers and visitors has increased the returns of hotels, residential units, restaurants and malls.”
