The penalty for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia is capital punishment. Women traveling alone normally are unable to rent a hotel room. During Ramadan devout Muslims abstain from food and drink during daylight hours. Office hours are shortened and shifted to the evening, and people may be affected by the fasting and customary late night social gatherings. During Ramadan business travelers should not drink, eat, or smoke in public during daylight or in the presence of fasting Muslims.
Hotels offer special daytime food services for their non-Muslim guests.
In 1998, for example, Ramadan started in late December 1997 and ended just under a month later, in late January 1998. There are two Islamic religious holidays around which most businesses close for at least three working days and all government offices close for a longer period. During these holidays, it is very difficult to make contacts and transact business. Their timing is governed by the Islamic lunar calendar, and is normally in the spring. The Saudi national day is celebrated September 22.