The tourism sector in Saudi Arabia is seeing a major spike in demand for top talents from around the world, amid the country’s increasing focus on the sector, among others, to drive its non-oil sector economy, a top industry expert said.
Mature and developed tourism markets globally such as the US, Italy, France, Spain and Australia are the major source countries for meeting the rising demand for CEO-level positions in the kingdom.
Interestingly, Saudi Arabia is also, of late, seen drawing top talents from the UAE and Qatar – the top two tourism markets in the region – in numbers to the country with tempting packages and job challenges.
“The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, is seeing a spike in demand for [top] talent in tourism – as also in advanced manufacturing – as skill sets in these sectors are still scarce and budding within the region,” Maliha Jilani, Partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Dubai office, told Arabian Business.
“Multiple mega-projects underway and in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, such as the Neom smart city project, will also drive demand for leaders with relevant technology, tourism, and urban development experience,” said Jilani, who is also the Social Impact Practice lead for Middle East and North Africa region at Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search and management consulting firm.
She said the leadership hiring market in Saudi Arabia – as also in several countries in the Middle East – is also strong, and “this trend is expected to continue for the rest of the year, especially in the sectors gaining traction and investments.”
Jilani said the rising demand for top executives in the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia is met from overseas markets, especially from markets such as the US, Italy, France, Spain and Australia which have more mature and developed economic development, tourism and culture sectors.
“Interestingly, we are also seeing in-market movement – from markets that are more evolved to those that are still evolving. In the culture and arts sector, talent from the UAE and Qatar are moving to Saudi Arabia.”
She said tourism is among the top sectors in countries such as Saudi Arabia in the Middle East region with many opportunities to bring in external expertise.
Skills shortage concerns in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
A PwC study in 2022 showed 58 percent of respondents in Saudi Arabia and 46 percent in the UAE believed their country had a shortage of people with specialised skills.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the region in taking bold steps to move away from its traditional industries such as oil and gas and investing heavily into new sectors such as tourism as part of their economic diversification strategies.
The drive is estimated to have led to a nearly 122 percent jump in non-oil government revenues to $107 billion in 2021, from $44 billion in 2015 in the kingdom.
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