Saudi Arabia Tourism Jobs

Saudi Arabia is the Mecca of religious tourism in the Gulf, literally. It is home to the holiest pilgrimages in Islam and thus attracts a lot of tourists from around the world who come here to pay their homage. Owing to this, the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia is also a fast growing one. This sector generates huge revenue for the Kingdom and has employed more than 3, 42,000 people. Tourism jobs in Saudi Arabia can be found in areas such as hotels, restaurants, resorts, entertainment, furnished apartments, travel agencies, transportation etc.

Considering the potential of this industry, the Saudi government has also launched many initiatives to boost tourism revenues. There is multi-billion dollar plan to give further fillip to this industry. The Saudi government is trying to diversify its economy to reduce dependence on oil and hence, developing the tourism sector is on high priority for the government. Thus, government has devised a strategy to improve infrastructure and mega projects have been announced across Saudi Arabia and especially at religious sites. This has led to the creation of many jobs in tourism in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the top destination in the Middle East in terms of the arrival of international tourists. The religious tourism in the Kingdom accounts for nearly two-thirds of all revenue in the international tourism sector and one-third of domestic tourism earnings. Considering this, the hotel industry in Saudi Arabia is a prominent money spinner. However, hotel occupancy largely depends on the nearness of the hotel to a religious site. It also depends on the time of the year. If it is a pilgrimage season, the occupancy goes very high. It goes as high as 60% in the peak seasons.


During the period of Haj, the tourist flow is very high in Saudi Arabia. Nearly three million Muslims come to Mecca for Haj each year. It is generally at this time that the chinks in the infrastructure begin to show. To overcome this, the Saudi government is pumping in a lot of money to augment its infrastructure capacity. A $38bn tourism programme has been approved to improve infrastructure as part of an effort to boost tourism revenue and jobs in tourism in Saudi Arabia.

The transport system will be upgraded under the new programme to make commuting smoother during peak tourist seasons. Also, five new airport projects are under construction right now. This includes a terminal at Jeddah that will help tackle the influx of religious visitors. Also, a 450 km high-speed railway network is coming up at the cost of $1.8bn. The network will connect Jeddah, Mecca and Medina. This project would most likely be completed by 2012. This will be bale to carry 72,000 passengers per hour during the peak period.

However, the only restriction that limits the inflow of foreign tourists into Saudi Arabia is strict rules for entering the country. There is a call to ease the visa requirements by the tourism industry to make the Kingdom a more attractive tourist destination. Once the visa requirements are eased, this will boost tourism and promote it as a holiday destination as well. Saudi Arabia boasts of a nice weather, beaches, and fishing and diving. These attractions need to be exploited to the fullest as yet.

For accommodation, the construction of two five-star hotels with 935 rooms is underway and six three-star hotels with 1,255 rooms are also coming up. Apart from hotels, 30 to 40 residential buildings that would have the capacity to accommodate 100,000 people are also coming up besides 4,360 commercial and retail units, and 520 restaurants. Thus, a lot of hotel jobs in Saudi Arabia would also be generated in a few years from now.

Thus, the employment potential of this industry is quite huge and more and more jobs are being advertised daily. Since the local population cannot suffice to fill all these positions, qualified and experienced expatriates are hired at lucrative salaries for these jobs. One could apply through recruitment agencies, newspapers and job sites for Saudi Arabia jobs. Although the culture in Saudi Arabia is conservative, the compensation offered for jobs is very high and since it is a tax-free region, expatriates make huge savings on what they earn. The obscene tax-free salaries are the biggest puller for jobs in Saudi Arabia.

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