37,000 tourist accommodations and 16,000 hotel rooms are raising the standard of services in Riyadh

Posted in

06/01/2020

A recent report issued by Mashid and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce revealed an improvement in the quality of services provided in the lodging and hotel sector, which has led to a recovery in activity in the sector, with third-class accommodations accounting for the largest share of the market at approximately 39%, followed by second-class accommodations at 31%. First-class accommodations, which offer the highest level of service, account for only 1% of the total number of available rooms, Tourists and customers prefer establishments located on the inner streets of residential neighborhoods. (Riyadh Hotels).

36,901 tourist accommodation rooms

The report confirmed that short-term visitors to Riyadh tend to seek high-quality services. Regarding tourist accommodation, the number of available rooms in the Riyadh region as of April 2019 reached approximately 36,901—more than double the number of hotel rooms for the same period. The occupancy rate is estimated at 68.8%, with an average price of 344.7 riyals per night.

16,093 hotel rooms in Riyadh

The report specified that the number of hotel rooms in the Riyadh region stands at 16,093, with an average rate estimated at 462 riyals per night and an average occupancy rate estimated at 60.6 %. In terms of service level, four- and five-star properties accounted for the largest shares—38 % and 39 %, respectively, of the total available rooms—while one-star hotel rooms were the least in demand, at 3 %.

200,000 flights annually at King Khalid International Airport

The report highlights the steady growth of King Khalid International Airport since 2014 in terms of flight and passenger numbers, with the number of flights rising by 26 % in 2018 to reach more than 200,000 flights annually, accompanied by a significant increase in passenger numbers, which reached 28 million passengers annually. The significant increase in 2016 was due to the opening of Terminal 5 at King Khalid Airport, which alone can accommodate 12 million passengers. That same year also saw the establishment of Riyadh Airports Company, which is responsible for managing and developing the airport. The company is currently developing Terminals «Third and Fourth» and improving the operational efficiency of Terminals 1, 2, and 5, thereby increasing the total capacity of the airport to more than 35 million passengers annually.

300 billion riyals from the tourism sector

The report stated that the tourism sector holds a special place in Saudi Vision, as it is a promising new market full of fast-growing opportunities. The World Tourism Organization forecasts that the tourism sector will contribute 300 billion riyals to GDP by 2026. The report noted that the tourism sector alone contributed 5.2 billion riyals to the Saudi economy in 2017.

The report continued by noting that the General Investment Authority revealed in April 2019 that the number of foreign investment licenses in the Kingdom rose by 70 % during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period the previous year, The entry of global companies to invest in the education, information technology, and telecommunications sectors is noteworthy, and the number of foreign investment licenses rose to 9.5 in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.