Scholarships and jobs set for Saudi tourism students

JEDDAH: Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) Chairman Prince Sultan bin Salman is introducing a new program in coordination with the minister of education. It will be administered through a parallel program targeting students in Saudi universities to develop scientific training routes and link them with colleges, investment and economic paths to generate employment opportunities.
At a recent meeting of the advisory board of the Faculty of Tourism and Antiquities at King Saud University, Prince Sultan stressed the importance of activating the role of the board to achieve the goal of providing employment opportunities for graduates of the college and to overcome any difficulties facing it.
He pointed out that King Saud University is a partner of the SCTNH and that it is important to link the educational process to the architectural heritage sites. The system of economic projects in hotels and heritage lodges must be developed. This needs to be done through cooperation with the commission and the Faculty of Tourism and Antiquities and with the Architecture and Planning Faculty.
He stated the main role of the tourism sector and national heritage was in providing jobs which is the second-most Saudized sector in the national economy. It needs to expand further in terms of the number of citizens working in it. He noted that the coming stage would witness expansion of training related to heritage and craft, which will impact its importance successful investments.
Prince Sultan thanked King Saud University President Dr. Badran Al Omar and Dean Dr. Abdul Nasser Al-Sahrani for their efforts in supporting the national heritage and development of the national economy.
He specified that the university had many renewable economic activities including tourism and national heritage and that it was working to restructure all departments to suit the labor market.
The meeting dealt with a number of issues related to specifying days for touristic and archaeological occasions in the Kingdom and holding regular meetings with deans of colleges and heads of departments related to tourism and heritage in the Kingdom and GCC countries.