The Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia published the results of its study conducted in collaboration with Digital Research Company (DRC) on job attractiveness across the Kingdom's tourism sector. Key findings indicate the 75% of Saudis have a positive perception towards jobs in tourism, with 83% saying that jobs across tourism subsectors were an attractive option. Overall, 80% of respondents felt that there were plenty of opportunities for career learning and professional development, while 75% felt careers in tourism will provide long-term job stability. The regions with the highest interest in careers in tourism include Tabuk (91%), Hail (86%), Asir (85%), Riyadh (82%) and Al Jouf (83%). Interestingly, there was no significant difference by gender when it comes to overall sector interest level. The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest and most dynamic industries in today's global economy. With Saudi becoming one of the fastest-growing destinations in the world, the Ministry is playing a critical role in the advancement of the tourism sector, announcing the Tourism Academy in Riyadh in collaboration with UNWTO, and activating its online training portal which exceeded 226,000 registrants, and training more than 137,000 people throughout the "Your Future is Tourism" program in 2021. These recent developments in the Saudi tourism sector, resulted in the increase of the number of employees in the tourism sector to 10% in comparison with 2020. In addition, huge players in the hospitality industry are investing in Saudi Arabia, creating new job opportunities for Saudis and showing that there is strong confidence in the future of Saudi Tourism. In line with Vision 2030 and the National Tourism Strategy, the Ministry aims to create one million new jobs across the sector by 2030, and increasing the contribution in the national GDP to 10%. By leading the development of the National Tourism Strategy and by enabling the growth of Saudi's tourism sector, the Ministry of Tourism stands at the vanguard of the Kingdom opening to and embracing of the world. Bandar AlSafeer, General Manager of Tourism Nationalization and Training commented: "The Ministry of Tourism's job attractiveness study provides a clear indication of the positive contribution that Saudi's nascent tourism is making towards the realization of Vision 2030's objective to create engaging and enriching prospects for Saudis. It is encouraging to see that an overwhelming majority of those polled expressed an interest in pursuing a job in the tourism sector, a testament to the dynamic work being undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism. We expect these positive results to continue to grow due to the continuous development of the Kingdom's tourism sector, including giga projects development and inward investment. By adapting these findings into actionable initiatives, we can better inform our role as the driver of Saudi's tourism growth and a creator of prosperous opportunities for Saudi citizens.
