Tourism’s job creation potential highlighted

Prince Saud bin Khaled Al-Faisal, deputy governor of the General Authority for Investment, has said that for every million dollars spent on tourism, 50 jobs are created.
Prince Saud made his observation on Wednesday at a forum entitled “Tourism Investment Facts” as part of the 6th Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment Market (STTIM) being organized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) that concluded yesterday.
He said the contribution of tourism to global GDP was estimated at $ 6.3 trillion (9.1 percent) in 2011, surpassing the mining, automotive and chemicals sectors. He added that its contribution to job creation is a key player compared to other sectors and that spending or investment in the sector have had a much bigger impact than most other sectors.
“A total of 98 million new jobs were created during 2011, six times the manufacturing sector, mining, telecommunications, automobile and chemicals,” he elaborated.
Major reforms have also been implemented on the investment front in the Kingdom, including the abolition of minimum capital in limited liability companies and an 80 percent reduction in the cost of establishing limited liability companies. This is in addition to determining a fee of SR 500 for a summary contract to set up a limited liability company.
Hamad Ismael, assistant vice president for tourism investment, said the Kingdom’s natural and cultural environments are very promising for tourism investment.
The SCTA has provided and continues to provide a range of incentives, including technical support methods for investors in the tourism sector, by identifying key areas for the development of tourism, in addition to drafting development-based plans for market studies, tourism, licensing and the classification of facilities and activities that meet quality performance criteria. This will enable them to obtain technical and financial support from stakeholders and nominate a technical support representative.
He continued: “This also includes incentive and financial support through providing a variety of sources for funding through agreements signed by the SCTA with a number of banks and financial institutions. Should these six agreements be reached, a total of 195 tourism projects will be funded at a value of approximately SR 196 million, as well as programs and initiatives that would help investors acquire the necessary support for feasibility study preparation.”
He said the authority has also worked to stimulate tourism investment to provide infrastructure to tourist sites. According to him, “giant, economic tourism investment" can only be launched with the support of the state, stressing that all indications point to the Kingdom having the key ingredients for a competitive tourist destination in the region.
Abdullah Fawzan, an economist, said a clever investor would monitor consumer behavior prior to embarking upon such a project. He believes that “a Saudi tourist travels to international destinations, becoming an expert in the quality of tourist services and expecting the same quality here.