A Review of Manpower Crises in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Tourism Industry

Abstract

There is a serious shortage of trained personnel in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries’ tourism industry, and the major challenges that this region faces are lack of training and manpower development. The tourism industry in the GCC region has grown at an unprecedented rate and the economies of this region have grown continuously too. Training and manpower development, however, have not kept pace with the situation. While various measures have been suggested to develop manpower capabilities in the tourism industry in this region, not enough has been done to meet the challenges. This paper will review the manpower shortage in the tourism industry in the region. It will also suggest ways to address this issue. The manpower shortage issue will be analyzed in terms of review of the economic significance of the region, key components of growth in its tourist industry, conditions that restrain this industry, and strategies to meet the challenge.