This center opened its doors as part of a very prestigious camel festival where about fifty workers bend over backwards to pamper them.
One “hotel»At 100 euros per night for a very special clientele: in the middle of the Saudi desert, a temporary center offers overnight stays and pampering services to competition camels, an animal revered in the rich oil kingdom of the Gulf. In Rumah, a little over a hundred kilometers north-east of the capital Ryad, Omair Al-Qahtani’s camel was entitled for two weeks to cleaning, mowing, heating or even hot milk, in the heart of an endless expanse of red sand.
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The center opened as part of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s highly prestigious Camel Festival, from December to January, where prizes worth up to a total of around 60 million euros are presented. during beauty pageants. “It is very comfortable. My camel benefits from regular medical care and monitoring», Omair al-Qahtani, a 51-year-old businessman from Riyadh, told AFP. According to him, this stay will cost him in total between 140,000 and 190,000 euros. A long-time camel enthusiast, Omair Al-Qahtani recalls a time when festival participants had to pitch tents and take care of their camels themselves.
A multi-million dollar market
In “the hotel»Of some 120 outdoor enclosures, single or double, about fifty workers bend over backwards to pamper and feed all the camels. According to Mohammed Al-Harbi, media manager of the festival, the hotel was installed “to protect and take care of camels but also to lighten the burden on their owners“. The establishment was also a boon for the organizers, the stays and treatments provided having brought in more than 1.4 million euros in one month of the festival.
Called the “desert boats“, the “arabian camels“, Actually one-humped camels, have long been used to move around the great desert areas of the Arabian Peninsula, becoming a traditional symbol of the Gulf. Camel breeding is also a multi-million dollar industry in the region, with similar events, from beauty pageants to camel races, being held throughout the year. In Saudi Arabia, the wealthy enthusiasts can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire and care for the most beautiful camels.
The beauty contests of the King Abdulaziz festival are based on demanding criteria: the shape and size of the lips, neck and bump are the main ones. To win, some participants go even further than nights in a “hotelLuxury. In December, several candidates had been disqualified, their camels having undergone botox injections. This prohibited practice can lead to hefty fines: more than 23,000 euros.