A women-only hotel was opened Tuesday in Riyadh during a ceremony headed by Secretary General of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, Prince Sultan Bin Salman, the Saudi daily Arab News reported.
The 25-room hotel is designed to encourage Saudi businesswomen to invest in the tourism industry, Bin Salman told reporters at the opening of Luthan Hotel & Spa.
The prince explained the project was part of the Saudi government's support for investment in all sectors.
The hotel will provide services for female guests, especially businesswomen who need to sleep over in Riyadh during their business trips.
Nevertheless, women who would like to reach the capital from remote cities will still find this task difficult to accomplish, The Media Line's analysts say.
Last year The Media Line reported on a group of Saudi women, who submitted a petition to the government demanding they be allowed to drive cars.
Driving cars is denied to Saudi women by law for religious reasons on the grounds that it would expose them to unfamiliar men on the roads and endanger the strict separation between men and women in the kingdom.
In January 2008 Saudi government officials confirmed the government had taken a decision to issue a decree allowing women to drive by the end of the year.
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