JEDDAH, 29 March 2004 — Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), has announced plans to reorganize travel and tourism offices in a bid to promote domestic tourism.

“We are working on a comprehensive program to Saudize the travel and tourism sector which will be ready within three months,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the prince as saying yesterday. “The new program will bring about a total change in the quality of work of travel and tourism offices as they will not only issue tickets but also organize national tourism trips,” he said.

Prince Sultan dismissed fears that Saudization would negatively affect the industry. “We are facing no obstacles in the Saudization of travel and tourism jobs,” the SCT chief said.

The SCT has begun an intensive program to train the national cadre required for the sector. According to the national tourism strategy, the Kingdom needs 48 specialized institutions to meet the needs of the tourism sector over the next 20 years.

Prince Sultan said the SCT, in association with Saudi universities and the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), was studying the prospects of establishing such institutions.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Dr. Ali ibn Nasser Al-Ghafees, governor of GOTEVOT, Prince Sultan called upon the Kingdom’s educational institutions and the private sector to set up courses required by the tourism sector and train young Saudis to work in this vital industry.

“The SCT is currently preparing the standards for work in the sector as part of a national project to develop manpower required by the tourism sector,” Prince Sultan said, adding that the project’s five-year plan would be announced this month. “This project aims at producing Saudi tourism professionals of a high standard,” he said.

“The tourism profession is not restricted to a particular job. In fact, there are hundreds of jobs related to the sector and tourist institutions,” he said.

Prince Sultan also said that a new law governing the development of handicrafts and cottage industries would be issued shortly.

He commended GOTEVOT’s efforts to provide training for young Saudis in various jobs required by the labor market, making use of experiments in other countries. He said the Kingdom’s labor market needed a total overhaul. He commended the establishment of the new Labor Ministry as the right decision.

GOTEVOT plans to launch a media campaign as part of its silver jubilee celebrations. The campaign aims at changing the existing ideas of Saudi professionals.

The Kingdom has already embarked on an SR3.7 billion program to train some 100,000 Saudis in order to intensify the Saudization drive and reduce the growing unemployment rate which is estimated at nearly 15 percent.

Plans are under way to establish 20 technical colleges capable of accommodating 60,000 trainees and 39 technical training institutes designed for 40,000 students.

A decision concerning these was taken at a meeting chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, in November last year.

Speaking to reporters, Al-Ghafees said allocations would be made in GOTEVOT’s budget to establish 20 technical colleges at a total cost of SR1.9 billion and 39 technical training institutes at a cost of SR1.54 billion.