SCTA urged to curb high accommodation prices

Visitors to the holy city of Madinah have expressed anger over the skyrocketing prices of hotels and furnished apartments, especially in the area immediately surrounding the Prophet’s Mosque, and have demanded that the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) intervene and regulate tariffs.
The city receives thousands of visitors every year during Eid Al-Adha. More than 600,000 Haj pilgrims visited Madinah last year, while more than 755,000 had gone to the holy city before the Haj season.
According to sources in the tourism sector, occupancy rates at hotels near the Prophet’s Mosque have reached more than 98 percent, while prices have increased by over 65 percent.
Sources said that visitors have also complained of lack of hotel availability and that reservations were not available until after the Haj season, which falls in October.
Ahmed Al-Tayeb, a Saudi citizen, said he had searched in vain for a room or a suite at hotels near the Prophet’s Mosque.
“Receptionists continuously tell me are no rooms,” he said. “I tried my luck finding a furnished apartment far away from the mosque, only to find that their prices were extortionate.”
He said that furnished apartments rates had gone from SR250 per day to more than SR420.
“I had no choice but to go to the ‘Pakistan House 2,’ which has been allocated for Pakistani pilgrims and visitors,” he added.
Saeed Sayed, a Saudi national, also called on the SCTA to take action to control the prices of hotels and furnished apartments in the city.