By Mohammed Idries
Riyadh-Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's tourism investments reached SAR 139 billion, compared with SAR 33 billion in 2005, said Salah Al-Bekhit, vice president for investment and tourism development at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH).
In his speech to the hotel investment conference held in Riyadh, Al-Bekhit said the kingdom's hotel capacity reached 446,600 rooms and furnished residential units.
He expected the hotel capacity to reach 621,600 rooms and furnished residential units by 2020.
"The number of licenses offered to hotels amounted to 1,685, in addition to 4,298 licenses for residential units," Al-Bekhit said.
He added that the number of Saudis working in the tourist accommodation sector amounted to 38,300 last year, representing 15.6% of the total Saudis working in the tourism sector.
SCTH is currently working on the national transformation programme through launching several initiatives to develop the tourist destinations, which include several diverse hotel investments, as well as mechanisms to stimulate tourism investments.
Translated by Abdul Maguid Aboshahla
