Jeddah – The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) will begin issuing tour guide licenses to qualified Saudi women this month, Al-Madina newspaper reported on Saturday.

He said up to 150 Saudi women, who studied tourism orientation and graduated as early as 2012, have already applied for the license.

Sattam Al-Balawi, chairman of the Saudi Society of Tour Guides, said the commission has already taken practical steps to issue licenses to women.

He added that women are generally meticulous and focus on details.

Manshi said the Saudiization rate for jobs in the tourism sector is currently only 28.1%, posing a serious challenge to officials in charge of tourism in the Kingdom.

He called for the extension of scholarships to study tourism for Saudi men and women so that they can nationalize jobs in this sector.

Abeer Abu Solaiman, a female tour guide, said the profession of tour guide in the Kingdom began in Jeddah in 2011 when she created a group called the “Heart of Historic Jeddah City” to bring architectural heritage to life. of downtown Jeddah and make efforts to spread the culture of its preservation.

She said she depended entirely on her personal efforts to develop her own skills and create a database by chatting with the owners of the older homes.

“During the period between 2011 and 2015, I was able to offer free tours to over 12,000 visitors on my own,” she said.

Solaiman said she faces a number of hardships and issues from male tour guides who will not easily accept her among them.

Solaiman is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Arabic. She said it would be easy for her to work as a tour guide when she obtained her license.

Areej Falatah, another aspiring tour guide, said she had worked for five years in areas outside of her specialization. she will now be able to work as a tourist guide when she obtains the license.

Azhar Al-Azuori said Saudi women have left a fabulous imprint on tourism, although their numbers are small by organizing conferences and organizing family tours.

“We will excel more when we are licensed to work as suitable tour guides,” she said.

At the same time, the SCTH is working on the licensing of three private museums in Mecca, which will join five others already existing in the city.

“The eight private museums will together constitute a tourist and cultural wealth in the holy city,” said the director of the commission in Mecca, Hisham Bin Mohammed Madani.

He explained that the five authorized museums in Mecca are the Human Heritage, the Makkawi Tourism House, the Islamic Dinar, Al-Amoudi and the Khundanah Museum.

Madani said Mecca’s museums vary in content, showcasing old coins, heritage and crafts.