The Director General of the Licensing Department at the Authority, Engineer Omar Al-Mubarak, confirmed that the tourist accommodation sector in the Kingdom has witnessed significant growth over the past few years, which created a balance between supply and demand in many regions, which was reflected in the drafting of the tourism system, which began its application from the beginning of Ramadan this year, and Al-Mubarak indicated that the system gave the Authority the authority to monitor the prices provided by the operators of tourist accommodation facilities and the Authority has committed the operators of tourist accommodation facilities to a number of controls regarding the price list, where the operator must provide the Authority with a list of prices for accommodation in his facility during (the days of urgent days) Note that the seasons in all regions of the Kingdom are limited only to the days of the two Eid holidays and public school vacations, and in the Holy Capital and Medina, the period of Ramadan and the days of Hajj.
Al Mubarak revealed that the system has set a number of determinants to prevent overpricing. One of the most important of these determinants is that the operator must announce the price list in a clear place in the reception area, and he cannot amend it before one year from the date of its submission to the Authority and its announcement on the Authority's website, and there will be a direct link with the Zakat and Income Authority with a copy of the price list submitted by the same operator to be required to pay Zakat according to the price list submitted by him, and thus the investor will think carefully before setting the price, and Al Mubarak indicated that this situation will make investors keen to provide competitive prices commensurate with the services they provide.
The Director General of Licenses explained that the increase in supply in the market as a result of the Authority's efforts to regulate the market and improve the quality of services contributed to the balance of prices in the tourist accommodation sector, and the Competition Protection Council prevents and violates practices that affect competition in the market such as the agreement between a number of investors to raise, lower or fix the price of the service provided, which is fined up to (10 million riyals) against those found violating the competition controls approved by the Council.
Al Mubarak renewed the directives of Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, and his follow-up in conducting control tours on tourist accommodation facilities in the regions of the Kingdom to ensure their commitment to the announced prices and their commitment to provide services that match the classification category granted to the facility, noting that the operator's violation of the prices submitted to the Authority and announced to him reaches a fine of (fifty thousand riyals) against the violator.
He stressed the importance of everyone's cooperation in reporting any violation, whether related to prices or services provided, by calling the tourist phone number 19988 or applying to any of the Authority's branches located in all regions of the Kingdom.
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