MADINAH: The 320 hotels in the central area around the Prophet’s Mosque have reportedly incurred losses of more than SR500 million since the beginning of the Ramadan Umrah season with occupancy rate not exceeding 15 percent, owners and operators of a number of hotels and furnished apartments told Al-Eqtisadiah daily in a report published recently. The hoteliers claim they could lose considerably more through the Haj season thanks to swine flu concerns keeping pilgrims away either because they choose not to come or because some countries are preventing them from coming.
Some have claimed that contracts with Haj tour operators are down to 10 percent what they were last year, though the report did not seek confirmation of these figures with outside sources.
The hotel operators, most of whom were not named in the report, blame the Ministry of Health for not doing enough to calm H1N1 fears. Fouad Al-Khamri, an owner of a hotel chain, said a number of contracts signed with tourist companies for the accommodation of pilgrims were revoked.
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