The hospitality industry in the GCC region has grown remarkably over the past decade with inbound tourist arrivals reaching 59.7 million in 2019, growing at a CAGR of approximately 4.1 percent during the period 2015 – 2019.
With further growth in the pipeline for the industry across the region, demand for local talent and therefore hospitality education is on the rise, a recent report by Colliers on Hospitality Education in the GCC with a focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia indicated.
“While Saudi Arabia has historically been the centre for religious tourism and pilgrimage for Muslims, the kingdom is rapidly developing itself as a leisure destination, with the activation of several destinations including AlUla, Qiddiya, The Red Sea Project, etc., in line with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 which places emphasis on further development of the hospitality and tourism,” said Mansoor Ahmed executive director & head of development solutions, healthcare, education & PPP: Middle East & Africa (MEA) Region at Colliers.
“On the other hand, the UAE attracts the highest number of inbound arrivals, establishing itself as a top business and leisure destination over the past years. Bahrain also features as a popular destination, largely backed by the inflow of tourists from Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway which connects Al Khobar to Bahrain,” he continued.
Post-pandemic, travel demand is back with Euromonitor International estimating there were 894,700 rooms supplied across the GCC in 2021, an increase of nearly 387,000 rooms over the past decade.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE feature as key markets in the region with 70 percent of the supply concentrated in the kingdom to meet the growing demand from pilgrims visiting the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, and the UAE accounting for 23 percent of the entire GCC’s supply.
It is estimated that over 100,000 rooms would be supplied across the GCC by 2026, with the total supply estimated to exceed 1 million rooms – the large majority being supplied in Saudi Arabia followed by the UAE.
Furthermore, an additional 110,000 units are estimated to be added in the holy cities by 2030 to cater to the demand from pilgrims.
Need for skilled hospitality talent
Within this context, and considering the tourism industry’s rapid growth in the region, demand for skilled hospitality professionals is expected to rise even further.
“Considering the forthcoming supply of hotel rooms, it is estimated that the GCC would require over 90,000 skilled hospitality professionals by 2026 out of which approximately 82,000 would be required in Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” said Ahmed.
“Estimates are based on the assumption that supply would generally be three times and above, considering the general industry trend in the region. If the planned mega projects in the holy cities are taken into account, Colliers estimates that these projects would require approximately 50,000 further skilled/trained hospitality professionals by 2030. Furthermore, there are several leisure projects also planned in Saudi Arabia,” he continued.
Currently, a significant proportion of staff in tourism and hospitality in Saudi Arabia and the UAE are expatriates with less representation of local professionals especially in technical roles.
This creates an opportunity to cultivate local talent and skilled and trained hospitality professionals, to meet the snowballing demand for manpower, Colliers’ report indicated.
As part of a Saudisation drive, Saudi Arabia has mandated that at least 30 percent of staff employed has to be Saudi with all front desk or managerial roles assigned to Saudi nationals.
Its Ministry of Education (Higher Education) and Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), has also undertaken an initiative to establish dedicated hospitality academies and introduce hospitality and tourism-related programmes in public universities across the kingdom.
However, enrolment in the field of study is still low with the number of enrolled students, at 5,500, representing only 0.3 percent of the total enrolment in HEIs across the country.
In the UAE, where education provision is largely privatised, there are four specialist private tourism and hospitality institutes offering courses and training in the sector, collectively enrolling 609 students across various undergraduate and post-graduate programs and constituting 1.7 percent of total enrolment.
Going forward, it is likely that tourism and hospitality-related courses will gain traction in the region, especially amongst the local population in Saudi Arabia, as the sector would provide high employment probability owing to the considerable and growing demand to meet requirements of employers/service providers.
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