Speaking at the forum, Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), highlighted the government's efforts to make tourism a productive and profitable sector. He said the SCTA has set up 15 councils and executive bodies to promote domestic tourism.

Labor Minister Adel Fakieh described the tourism sector as one of the major job generators. "The Labor Ministry has been linked with SCTA to know the latest job vacancies in the sector," he said.

He highlighted the growing role of the tourism sector in the national economy and its increasing contribution to the gross domestic product.

"Employment of Saudis is one of the declared objectives of the development of the Kingdom's tourism sector," he said. According to studies, it would create about 1.5 million in director and indirect jobs.

The sector has already provided 458,000 jobs in 2009, of which 26 percent are occupied by Saudis, the minister said quoting a report of the National Human Resource Development Project at the SCTA. The sector is expected to create 590,000 new jobs by the end of 2014, he added.