RIYADH — Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb announced that the ministry will spend $100 million annually to train 100,000 young Saudi men and women to work in various facilities in the tourism sector. Attending a dialogue session on "Future trends for local content in light of Vision 2030" at the Local Content Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday, the minister said that the ministry's goal is to raise the sector's contribution to both the economy and the localization of tourism jobs to 10 percent by the year 2030. Al-Khateeb said the ministry is working to localize employment by hiring Saudi human cadres in the management and operation of hotels and travel and tourism companies, indicating that some hotels have a Saudi employee rate of 50 percent. "Some operators in hotels and tourism resorts came to us and said candidly that they have wonderful energy level but need training. We said we will participate with you in this respect. Just as the financial sector was built in the eighties, we will build this sector by contributing and participating with the private sector." Al-Khateeb emphasized that the ministry is working to localize a large part of capital spending in this vital sector. "Under the scheme, the conceptualization will be through Saudi offices, and the implementation will be through Saudi contracting companies, while the materials used will be supplied by Saudi factories. This is in view of the fact that localizing this spending will help create jobs for citizens, and increase the sector's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP)," he said. Al-Khateeb said that the tourism sector represents a fundamental pillar of the national economy and one of the pillars of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, pointing in this regard to the giga investment projects in the sector, especially the construction of tourist cities such as NEOM, the Red Sea, Qiddiya, Diriyah and others. The private sector is a contributor to these projects, of which the investments are estimated at $500 billion over the next 15 years." Regarding the Red Sea Destination, the minister revealed that the resorts and hotels that have started operating there have reached a 50 percent localization rate, and these include many Saudis from Haql and Al-Wajh. "More than 15 resorts in the Red Sea will be opened in 2025," he added. The dialogue session explored the future trends of local content in light of Saudi Vision 2030 by discussing the strategic role of local content and the impact of national strategies and vision realization programs on the growth of targeted sectors, the readiness of the private sector to implement local content, and how it enhances the ability of the national economy to face economic challenges.
