The government plans to set up specialized institutes to train Saudis for the tourism industry, which has a small quota of Saudi workers, said Engineer Ahmad Al-Eisa, Director of Quality and Licenses at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). Al-Eisa said it was possible to create 200,000 jobs for young Saudi men and women in the industry in a short period of time. Apart from this, he said that the SCTA and Saudi universities are coordinating to open new colleges and departments to train citizens for the tourism industry. Already, King Saud University and Prince Sultan University in Abha, and King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, have opened colleges to train students for the tourism sector. An official source at the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry informed Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the chamber is also working on a plan to create jobs for the tourism sector and other professions needed by the labor market. This will help increase Saudization in the country. He said most of these jobs are taken up by expatriates because they have the training and skills needed by the labor market. __
