Saudis expected to spend almost $6 billion during Eid: official

Deputy Chairman of the Commercial Committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Wasif Kabli, said that Saudis are expected to spend more than $6 billion during Eid al-Adha, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The figure encompasses the total amount of domestic spending in the Kingdom as well as abroad, Kabli told Asharq daily.

UAE’s Dubai and Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh topped the list as the most favored destinations hit by Saudis while Medina, Riyadh and the eastern part of the Kingdom were in the lead Saudis choose to visit on a national level, he said.

Most of the money is spent on housing in hotels, furnished apartments, chalets and resorts, and on transportation.

The estimated average expenditure for a person in the city of Jeddah or Riyadh is around $80 a day but expenditure for those that like to spend their vacation in resorts reaches up to $533 a day.

In Dubai or Sharm al-Sheikh, the expenditure increases to reach up to $800 a day.

Food and clothes are the sectors that benefit most from the spending habits of the Saudis, he said.

“Families go out every day and spend their money. In fact, some shops have problems securing their money after they shut down and I wish banks would open during Eid days to allow traders to deposit their cash so that they do not lose it,” he said.