RIYADH: Saudi Vice Minister of Tourism Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud has launched a comprehensive accreditation initiative to enhance education and training standards in the tourism sector.
The initiative will focus on improving educational programs and aligning them with labor market needs, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Princess Haifa described the launch as a key step toward advancing the ministry’s goals, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
She said that 102 national tourism education and training programs would be assessed in 2024 by UN Tourism, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, and the Technical and Vocational Training Corp.
The goal is to help tourism institutions gain both international and local accreditations and professional certificates.
Princess Haifa outlined several targets: 31 programs will achieve national and international accreditation in 2024; 200 trainers and staff will receive professional certificates to teach and manage tourism programs; 37 Ministry of Tourism employees will earn professional management certificates; and 27 programs will gain accreditations in 2025.
She said that the ministry was working with local and international partners to meet the initiative’s goals, boosting the tourism labor market’s competitiveness, enhancing the Kingdom’s global tourism status, and providing job opportunities.
The ministry also introduced the Tourism National Occupational Skills Standards under the “Ahluha” initiative in June. This aims to establish professional standards to improve tourism education and training and address industry supply and demand gaps.
