RIYADH: Hotel spending in Saudi Arabia surged by 2.1 percent in the week ending July 19, driving total point-of-sale transactions to SR12.19 billion ($3.25 billion), even as most other sectors saw declines.
Total POS value remained above the $3 billion mark for the fourth consecutive week despite a 7.1 percent weekly drop, underscoring the resilience of consumer activity across the Kingdom, according to data from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA.
The hotel sector recorded SR287.44 million in transaction value, with the number of transactions slipping 2.1 percent to 822,000, while overall POS transactions across all sectors declined 4.8 percent to 212.73 million.
According to SAMA’s bulletin, the clothing and footwear sector saw the largest decrease, dropping by 13 percent to SR719.45 million. Spending on communications ranked next, dropping 12.5 percent to SR102.94 million.
Restaurants and cafes — the sector with the biggest share of total POS value — recorded a 6.9 percent decrease to SR1.79 billion, while the food and beverages sector saw a 6.6 percent decrease, totaling SR1.73 billion and claiming the second-biggest share of this week’s POS. Spending on miscellaneous goods and services ranked third despite a 9.9 percent decline to SR1.36 billion.
The top three categories accounted for approximately 39.9 percent of the week’s total spending, amounting to SR4.88 billion.
The smallest decline was seen in spending on building materials which decreased by 0.2 percent to SR330.02 million, followed by expenditure on transportation which saw a 0.6 percent dip to SR718.02 million.
The health sector saw a decrease of 8.1 percent to SR740.27 million, while the furniture sector declined by 3.7 percent to SR265.57 million.
Spending on jewelry dipped by 11.7 percent to SR269.61 million, followed by a 9.9 percent decrease in spending on recreation and culture.
Geographically, Riyadh dominated POS transactions, with expenses in the capital reaching SR4.20 billion, a 6 percent decrease from the previous week.
Jeddah followed closely with a 7.2 percent dip to SR1.76 billion, while Dammam ranked third, down 6.9 percent to SR582.99 million.
Abha saw the smallest decrease, inching down 1.1 percent to SR207.48 million, followed by Makkah with a 4.5 percent decrease to SR507.03 million.
Hail recorded 3.69 million deals in transaction volume, down 7.6 percent from the previous week, while Tabuk reached 4.16 million transactions, dropping 9.1 percent.
