POS transactions dropped by 7.5% to SR11.3 billion, continuing a downward trend after a 2.6% increase in early October Education sector experienced the biggest decline, with spending down 25.3% to SR94.1 million RIYADH: Hotel spending in Saudi Arabia surged by 8.5 percent during the week of Oct. 13— 19, reaching SR293.8 million ($78.2 million), despite an overall decline in point-of-sale transactions, official data showed. According to figures from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, hotels were the only sector to see an increase, while spending across all other sectors fell. Overall, POS transactions dropped by 7.5 percent to SR11.3 billion, continuing a downward trend after a 2.6 percent increase in early October. The education sector experienced the biggest decline, with spending down 25.3 percent to SR94.1 million. Telecommunications and public utilities followed with drops of 14.7 percent and 12.4 percent, recording SR103.6 million and SR48.4 million, respectively. Spending on construction and building materials recorded the smallest decline, dipping 4.1 percent to SR331.2 million. Restaurant and cafe expenditures fell 5 percent to SR1.76 billion, while gas station spending dropped 5.7 percent to SR866.4 million. Looking at the biggest value of transactions this week, the food and beverages sector stepped down from the first spot as the biggest share of the POS, recording an 8.6 percent decrease to SR1.74 billion. This was followed by miscellaneous goods and services at SR1.3 billion, with an 8.3 percent dip. The top three categories accounted for nearly 45 percent of the week’s total POS value at SR5.1 billion. Riyadh dominated POS transactions, representing 34.7 percent of the total, with spending in the capital reaching SR3.9 billion, recording a decrease of 6.9 percent. Jeddah followed closely with a 6.8 percent dip to SR1.5 billion, accounting for 13.8 percent of the total, and Dammam came in third at SR587 million, down by 6.3 percent. Hail saw the biggest decrease in spending, down by 10.3 percent to SR174 million. Abha and Buraidah also experienced declines, with expenditures dipping 8.3 percent and 9.1 percent to SR137 million and SR266.6 million, respectively. In terms of the number of transactions, Hail recorded the highest decrease for the second week in a row at 7.9 percent, reaching 3,478. Tabuk and Madinah followed with declines at 7.7 percent and 5.3 percent, reaching 4,362 and 8,038 transactions, respectively.