1022 furnished housing units in Riyadh, two of which receive first-class status
13 regions in the Kingdom are absent from the map of the first class rating for furnished apartments
105 furnished housing units miss the minimum rating standards in Riyadh
711 unlicensed furnished apartments in the Riyadh region
Riyadh- Amlak
The results of the second phase of the classification of the private tourist accommodation sector in furnished residential units announced by the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities in all regions of the Kingdom except for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina showed that 13 regions of the Kingdom are absent from the first degree (the highest degree of classification of furnished apartments), with the exception of Riyadh and its governorates, where two units of furnished apartments were registered at the first degree out of 1022 furnished residential units, while one furnished residential unit in the northern border received the highest classification out of 12 furnished residential facilities located in the region. The furnished residential units were recorded in the cities of: Jeddah, Sharqiya, Taif, Tabuk, Al Baha, Al Ahsa, Al Jouf, Qassim, Asir, Jazan, Najran, Yanbu, and Hail were absent from the first degree of classification, while the total number of furnished apartments in all the above-mentioned cities amounted to about 2448 furnished residential facilities. Furnished residential units in 14 cities in the Kingdom received the second degree with the exception of the Northern Borders region, where about 46 furnished residential facilities received the second degree in Riyadh and its governorates, while 40 units in Jeddah, 65 in Sharqiya, five in Taif, two in Tabuk, nine in Al Baha, 12 in Al Ahsa, nine in Al Jouf, 13 in Qassim, seven in Asir, 11 in Jazan, 11 in Najran, 15 in Yanbu, and 22 in Hail.
The third-class classification of furnished residential units was absent in Al-Jouf region only, while 105 furnished residential units in Riyadh did not achieve the minimum classification, in addition to 342 facilities in Jeddah, 52 in Taif, 26 in Al-Baha, 37 in Al-Ahsa, 18 in Al-Jouf, three in Qassim, 35 in Asir, 129 in Jizan, and 52 in Yanbu. It is noticeable from the announcement of the second phase of the classification of the tourist accommodation sector in the Kingdom (furnished residential units), the absence of the famous resort cities in Saudi Arabia from the first degree in the classification, at a time when these cities are witnessing a large influx of Saudi tourists and citizens of the Gulf region, especially with the summer vacation vacation.
The General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities has given the green light to investors and owners of furnished residential units wishing to raise the level of classification of their facilities by completing the conditions previously set by the Authority for owners of furnished residential facilities by applying to the regional authorities located in all regions of the Kingdom, each according to his region. The Authority did not commit investors and owners of furnished residential units to a specific time period for upgrades at present, but it is expected that there will be reclassification, according to the system every year.
The standards for furnished residential units focused on the location of the facility and building, parking, entrance, reception, guest rooms, amenities, restrooms in the unit, kitchen in the unit, general cleanliness, elevators, corridors, public facilities and services, management and staff, breakfast service, coffee shop and cafeteria, food and beverage places (restaurant), kitchen, room services, recreational facilities, safety requirements, and facilities for people with special needs.
HYPERLINK “http://www.aleqt.com/a/415878_114796.jpg”
HYPERLINK “http://www.aleqt.com/a/415878_114797.jpg”
It is noteworthy that the total number of residential units visited by the Authority reached 3485 establishments, where 912 establishments obtained one of the classification degrees, representing 26%, while three establishments obtained a first degree, 268 a second degree, 614 a third degree, 484 licensed and unclassified furnished housing units, 803 establishments did not achieve the minimum, and 1286 unlicensed or closed housing units.
Dr. Salah Al-Bakhit, Vice President of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities for Investment, confirmed earlier that the Authority has contracted with international consulting offices (Spain and Malta) to develop an updated system for classifying tourist accommodation facilities, and the Authority worked to study 14 international Arab experiences and identify the classification systems in them. He said: The Authority has developed an updated system for the classification of hotels (star system), and the classification of furnished apartments (three-degree system), where a number of workshops were held with the concerned government agencies to discuss the system, and ensure that there are no observations to those agencies, and this comes in confirmation of the concept of real partnership adopted by the Authority in all its programs and projects, and a number of workshops were held with the private sector to discuss these systems and accommodate their observations to ensure their acceptance when applying them, and this helped greatly to the success of the Authority's experience, and reduce the period of resistance to this system by the private sector.
