| 04 Sep 2010 |
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Saudi Arabia: Violations threaten unlicensed hotels and furnished apartments
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JEDDAH - In recent months, inspectors from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities found that more than 1,000 hotels and furnished apartments do not have licenses to operate and issued penalties against them, said Engineer Ahmad Al-Eisa, director general of the Licenses and Quality Administration at the SCTA.
Those penalties will be increased, up to temporary or permanent closure, if the business-owners do not comply with license conditions and do not achieve minimum requirements for safety, security and public health, Al-Eisa said.
Inspectors are continuing inspection tours of hotels and furnished apartments on an ongoing basis, not as part of a campaign or only during a set period of time, he added.
Investors must abide by licensing conditions, which dictate that approved rates, which must be commensurate with services provided and the facility's classification, are clearly displayed in the buildings' reception areas, Al-Eisa said.
Inspection operations and detection of violations, which protect visitors and help businesses improve their standard of services, are not used as a way to collect fines, Al-Eisa stressed.
He said the STCA, through the tourism development organizations, coordinates with the emirates of regions and other authorities to implement the policies and ensure that they are carried out.
A number of investors in the hospitality sector stressed the need to intensify inspection tours to ensure that businesses comply with requirements. The goals, they said, are to create honest competition, ensure that employment in the sector is efficient, eliminate unlicensed furnished apartments, upgrade the sector and increase investment in it.
They demanded that the SCTA support them in making their investments a success, which they said would solve the problems with workers, register Saudi youths who are already working in several establishments and train them to work in the sector through encouraging investment in establishing tourism colleges and institutes.
By Ahmad Al-’Iryani
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