As regional tensions influence travel patterns, many residents in Saudi Arabia are planning local staycations during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday. Hotels in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Red Sea region are preparing for increased domestic demand, with recent school break trends offering an indication of what may lie ahead. During that period, five-star hotels in Riyadh reached occupancy levels of up to 97 percent, suggesting that a similar pattern could emerge during Eid.
This shift in travel behaviour is occurring alongside rapid technological transformation across Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector. Vision 2030 continues to drive the adoption of digital platforms and smart infrastructure throughout the industry. Hotels across the Kingdom are expanding the use of mobile check-in systems, automated room controls and intelligent building management technologies designed to improve operational efficiency and enhance guest experiences. Major developments such as the Red Sea destination illustrate the depth of technological integration in hospitality projects, with more than 315,000 new hotel rooms expected to be developed across Saudi Arabia by 2030.
While these connected systems help improve efficiency and convenience, they also introduce new cybersecurity considerations during periods of high occupancy. Smart hotel environments often rely on thousands of connected devices operating behind the scenes, many of which may still run with default passwords, outdated software or unmanaged configurations. As hotels rely more heavily on digital infrastructure during peak periods, these vulnerabilities can increase the risk of service disruptions, unauthorised access or exposure of operational data. These concerns align with broader guidance from the National Cybersecurity Authority, which encourages organisations to strengthen protections around operational and connected systems.
Osama AlZoubi, Regional Vice President for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East at Phosphorus Cybersecurity, said one of the biggest challenges organisations face is the assumption that traditional IT security tools can adequately protect IoT devices. He noted that unlike conventional IT systems, most IoT devices lack the processing power or operating systems needed to support standard security agents or endpoint detection tools. As a result, organisations must approach security differently when managing large networks of connected devices such as smart locks, sensors, cameras and room control systems.
He added that for every laptop or server, there are often several times more IoT devices operating within hotel environments. These systems play a critical role in daily operations but are significantly harder to manage at scale. As demand rises during peak travel periods such as Eid, having clear visibility into connected devices and ensuring they are properly configured becomes essential to avoiding disruptions.
Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority has already called on organisations to strengthen security measures for operational and connected technologies. For hotel operators, the challenge extends beyond simply adding more security controls. It also involves achieving real-time visibility into the thousands of connected devices embedded within modern hotel infrastructure, identifying systems that may be vulnerable and ensuring that critical components are not left operating with factory settings during the busiest travel periods.
As domestic tourism continues to grow and the first generation of highly connected resorts comes online, cybersecurity in hospitality environments is becoming an increasingly important priority. The key challenge for operators is not whether connected devices introduce risk, but how quickly those risks can be identified and mitigated before they affect guest experiences.
With Eid travel demand approaching, hotel operators across the Kingdom are encouraged to review connected device configurations, address known vulnerabilities and ensure that IoT environments are properly secured ahead of peak occupancy periods.
About Phosphorus Cybersecurity
Phosphorus Cybersecurity is a security platform designed to identify, secure and monitor the rapidly expanding landscape of connected devices across enterprise environments. Its xTended Security of Things platform focuses on managing and protecting the often unmonitored devices that make up the enterprise xIoT ecosystem.
