The Saudi Red Sea Authority (SRSA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, has implemented two pioneering initiatives that focused on training human resources in working in luxury coastal resorts and travel agencies according to the best international practices. One of the initiatives targeted 1,059 trainees working in major Red Sea tourism projects such as Red Sea Global, Cruise Saudi, and NEOM. The training, which focused on customer service experiences and safety principles, was conducted as part of the second edition of the Tourism Trailblazers Program. (SPA report) The other initiative entailed increasing the public and private sectors integration through collaboration between the ministry and the authority in selecting elite human resources working in luxury coastal resorts and tourism marine agents organizing luxury cruise trips. These selected individuals participated in a specialized training program on a European cruise liner, accredited by the University of Plymouth, in partnership with Dale Carnegie UK and supervised by Umm Al-Qura University. The initiative aims to equip trainees with the skills and expertise needed in hospitality and guest service, and manage various hospitality-related operations on board cruise ships.
These initiatives reflect the Ministry of Tourism’s and SRSA’s commitment to training national talent in the coastal tourism sector and their vital role in making Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast a leading coastal tourism destination. SRSA aims to provide over 210,000 jobs by 2030 and contribute more than SAR85 billion to the GDP that same year.