Furnished flats in Jeddah witnessed an unusual demand by visitors from the country's different regions during the Eid-Al-Adha holidays. Occupancy in most of the furnished flats and hotels was reportedly one hundred percent. Abdullah Bin Sa'ad Al-Ahmari, vice chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's real estate committee, attributed the high demand due to visits to the Bride of the Red Sea by students and families of the employees of both the public and private establishments. He said that this demand resulted in increased apartment rents with a large apartment renting for SR250 to SR400 a day, while the same apartment rented for SR120 to SR150 a day during the off season. He added that the number of furnished apartments in the city is likely to increase due to a fall in prices of basic construction materials. “The price increase is due to several excellent services we have introduced,” said a furnished apartments owner, Sa'eed Al-Bassami, noting that there are about 7,000 furnished apartments in the city. Another owner, Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, said holidays in general are excellent opportunities for furnished apartments, resorts and hotels to profit. However, hotels and furnished apartments in Riyadh and the Eastern Province did not do as well as those in Jeddah during the holiday season. At the same time, there were complaints that in some cases rates were jacked up twofold, especially in the Eastern Province. Riyadh's hotels and furnished apartments had a low occupancy rate that ranged between 30 and 40 percent, which officials in the sector attributed to the fact that Riyadh is not a tourist city and its residents mostly leave for Jeddah and the Eastern Province during holidays. The chairman of the Hotels Committee at Riyadh's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Faisal Al-Mutlaq, said few people come to Riyadh as tourists as most come to the capital to follow up a government transaction, to visit a hospital or for a social visit. “The city's major hotels depend on businessmen and large companies,” he said. The occupation rate in the Eastern Province's furnished apartments and hotels also stood at less than 60 percent. On the other hand, the average rates during the holidays increased by nearly 40 percent, doubling up in the case of some apartments. Chalets had a 70 percent occupancy rate during the holidays with rates ranging from SR1,500 to SR2,500 a day.
