Okaz/Saudi Gazette MADINAH — The tourism and hotel industry in Madinah will be operating up to 80 percent of capacity by the end of Ramadan, according to a top industry expert. Abdulghani Al-Ansari, a member of the National Tourism Committee, said five-star hotels are offering heavy discounts and packages in Ramadan, which is attracting many to book hotels to enjoy their summer vacation. "The price for booking a room in a five-star hotel in Madinah is now between SR800 and SR1,000, especially for the first 10 days of Ramadan. Hotels in Madinah are now reporting 60 percent occupancy. By the end of Ramadan, the hotels may be occupied 80 percent," said Al-Ansari. He said hotels do not know how to advertise and market their services. "There are no summer packages or offers for restaurants, shopping centers, car rental offices and other related services such as flight booking. Hotels should be more active in striking deals with other agencies and offices in the tourism industry to increase the number of guests," said Al-Ansair. He also said these deals and packages help the economy a great deal as it involves several partners and increases customer attraction to several industries. "It is a perfect opportunity to diversify the economy but hotels and other agencies need to be more proactive in the way they run their business," said Al-Ansari. The national tourism industry has no excuse to be an inactive industry in the Kingdom because the Kingdom has numerous historical and religious sites that are of interest to tourists," he added. Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage official Khalid Al-Shahrani said the commission had set rules and regulations with fines reaching up to SR100,000 and possible shutdown for violating businesses. "The authority runs regular inspection campaigns on hotels, furnished residential units and tourism residence facilities in all areas of the Kingdom. The inspection campaigns increase during special seasons such as summer vacation, Ramadan, Eid Al-Fitr holiday and the Haj season," said Al-Shahrani.
