Why the younger Saudi generations are picking tourism jobs over oil

Why the younger Saudi generations are picking tourism jobs over oil

While careers in energy or petrochemicals used to rank high among youths in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, tourism and hospitality careers are now high on the list.

This shift in career preferences is being driven by Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 which aims to diversify the economy away from oil and gas and encourages growth in sectors like tourism and IT.

The kingdom's focus on tourism has led its youth to envision careers in the sector as more rewarding than those in the oil and gas industry, according to the Future Faces of Tourism research project, conducted by global research and analytics company PSB Insights.

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When asked about how interested they would be in pursuing a career in a range of sectors, tourism, hospitality, technology and healthcare ranked top in the careers that appeal most to young Saudis.

Conversely, sectors more traditional to Saudi Arabia, such as petrochemicals, oil and gas and manufacturing, ranked lower.

91 percent of the young Saudis surveyed were interested in pursuing a career in tourism or IT (90 percent), compared to 77 percent who were interested in a