RIYADH: Spending in Saudi hotels saw a weekly rise of 10.4 percent between Dec. 8 and 14, reaching SR349.2 million ($92.9 million), according to official data.
The surge can be attributed to the ongoing festivities of Riyadh Season in the Saudi capital. The latest point-of-sale bulletin released by the Kingdom’s central bank, also known as SAMA, showed this was the only sector of the economy to record a positive change over the seven-day period.
It also witnessed growth in terms of transactions, surging 9.5 percent to reach 770,000.
Overall, the Kingdom’s POS data registered a weekly decrease of 9.7 percent to reach SR12.8 billion, down from SR14.2 billion the week before. The central bank’s figures showed that the education sector saw the largest drop at 44.4 percent to SR119.8 million.
Spending on telecommunication followed, recording a 17.7 percent slide to SR114.2 million.
Jewelry recorded a decline of 9.8 percent to come in at SR260 million, while expenditure on construction and building materials dipped by 6.2 percent to SR358.2 million.
Spending on food and beverages dropped by 15.6 percent to SR1.8 billion, claiming the second most significant share of the total POS value. Expenditure in restaurants and cafes claimed the biggest share, recording the smallest decline at 0.3 percent to SR1.9 billion.
Miscellaneous goods and services still accounted for the third largest POS share despite a 10.9 percent dip, reaching SR1.5 billion.
Spending in the leading three categories accounted for approximately 42 percent or SR5.3 billion of the week’s total value.
At 2.8 percent, the second smallest decrease occurred in gas stations, leading total payments to reach SR904.5 million. Expenditures on transportation decreased by 3.6 percent to SR712.7 million, claiming the third smallest downstick.
Geographically, Riyadh dominated POS transactions, representing around 35.1 percent of the total, with expenses in the capital reaching SR4.5 billion — an 8.5 percent decrease from the previous week.
Jeddah followed with a 7.1 percent dip to SR1.7 billion, and Dammam came in third at SR640 million, down 11 percent.
Hail experienced the most significant dip in spending, decreasing 15.1 percent to SR199.1 million. Tabuk recorded a decline of 14.1 percent to SR241.4 million, while Abha dropped 12.9 percent to SR145 million.
Hail and Abha saw the largest transaction decreases, dipping 7.9 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, to 3.6 million and 2.8 million transactions.
