JEDDAH, 11 July — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), stated yesterday that the Kingdom’s tourism sector would provide 1.5 million to 2.3 million jobs by 2020. "Saudis will occupy 70 percent of these jobs," he added.
He was speaking on the occasion of today’s first graduation ceremony at Prince Sultan College for Tourism & Hotel Management in Abha. Prince Sultan said SCT will set out a long-term plan to train and develop Saudi manpower to take up various tourism-related jobs.
"At present Saudis constitute only 10.5 percent of the total workforce in the sector," he pointed out.
Calling the tourism industry as the world’s largest employer, the prince said: "A direct job in the tourism sector will contribute to creating one-and-a half indirect jobs in other sectors." Studies have proved that every room in a five-star hotel provides six direct and indirect jobs.
Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, will attend the convocation at the Abha college and give away degrees and diplomas in tourism and hotel management to the graduates.
"Training Saudis to take various jobs in tourism industry is one of SCT’s main objectives," Prince Sultan ibn Salman was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency. He said the graduation of the college’s first batch would boost the sector’s Saudization process. The commission plans to provide advanced training to Saudis in various tourism-related activities including planning and marketing.
Twenty-seven Saudis are now being given intensive training to take up various administrative jobs at the commission.
The government has taken effective measures to promote domestic tourism as part of a diversification drive. The Saudis spend tens of billions of dollars abroad on tourism and the government intends to win part of this staggering amount for the national coffers.
According to Prince Sultan ibn Salman, Saudis spent about SR54 billion on foreign tourism in 2000. During the same year, the Kingdom made revenues worth SR6.75 billion from tourism, the prince said,
"Some sources indicate that Saudi tourists spent over 100 million nights abroad in 4.4 million trips during the year 2000. On an average, each night cost them $135, bringing the total spending to about $14.4 billion," he explained.
He said the number of tourists coming to the Kingdom soared remarkably in the last decade.
It jumped from 2.58 million in 1992 to 4.8 million in 1999, registering an annual growth of between four and 23.3 percent.
The commission plans to expand tourist facilities in the country with the aim of cutting down Saudi spending on foreign tourism by a minimum of 10 percent and a maximum of 25 percent in the initial stage. It expects that the tourism industry’s contribution to the GDP would reach 7.3 percent.
