Saudi begins tourism jobs push

Saudi Arabia’s Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) has signed an agreement with the labour ministry to create more jobs for Saudis in the tourism sector.

The partnership will see the two setup the Professional Council for Tourism and National Heritage focused on boosting Saudisation, according to Saudi Gazette.

Prince Sultan Bin Salman, president of SCTNH, will be chairman of the council and minister of labour and social development Ali Al-Ghafis will be deputy chairman.

The council will work to determine the tourism sector’s workforce needs, increase the number of Saudis working in the sector and implement a plan to Saudise jobs in tourism, national heritage, exhibitions and training, according to the publication.

Both sides will also look to increase seasonal and part time jobs for Saudis, boost hiring of Saudi students during the peak season and organise training programmes to prepare Saudis for work in the sector.

The agreement makes it mandatory for companies in the tourism, national heritage, museum, urban heritage, handicrafts,conventions and exhibition sector to register their employees with the General Organization for Social Insurance and to host jobs fairs.

Joint media awareness programmes are planned to encourage Saudis to take up jobs in the sector.

Saudi Arabia is aiming to attract 1.5 million tourists by 2020 and increase the percentage of national revenue generated from tourism to 18 per cent by 2030.

Read: Saudi Vision 2030 aims to double tourism sector by 2020

Currently the number of tourists visiting the kingdom stands at around 200,000.