Regional tourism is surging, with over 50,000 new hotel rooms opening across the GCC in 2025 and more than 104,000 under construction. Roland Hancock, education and skills leader, and chief sustainability officer at PwC Middle East partner, explains that alongside infrastructure, the region’s competitive edge lies in developing skills to provide the service quality expected by today’s travelers.

Tourism has become a defining force in the global economy, and today’s guest experience demands an entirely new generation of skilled workers. In 2024, the sector contributed USD 10.9 trillion to global GDP, about 10 percent of the world economy, and supported 357 million jobs.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the GCC. Dubai welcomed a record 18.72 million international visitors last year, reflecting a 9.15 percent increase from the previous year. Likewise, Saudi Arabia attracted close to 30 million inbound tourists – a 9.4 percent increase – as it accelerates its National Tourism Strategy.

Potential capability squeeze

These flows magnify pressure on service quality, consistency and capacity across the customer journey, from airport arrivals to hotel checkout. Supply is also racing ahead. Across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Egypt alone, more than 50,000 new hotel rooms are due to open in 2025, with over 104,000 under construction regionwide. Unless matched with the right skills, this expansion risks creating a capability bottleneck.

The competitive advantage for the GCC is no longer just about infrastructure. As capacity expands, the real differentiator will be talent, and how education, training and continuous learning adapt to meet these evolving demands.

A shift in guest expectations

The modern traveler arrives with different priorities than before. Social media increasingly shapes discovery and influence. Expedia Group’s 2025 global trends report shows 61 percent of travelers get trip ideas from their social feeds, while 73 percent say creators influence their plans. Guests therefore arrive with highly specific, curated expectations, putting pressure on frontline staff to deliver on those moments.

The PwC Middle East report ‘Stay, Play, Shop: Shaping integrated destinations for connected visitor experiences,’ developed in collaboration with Mabrean, makes for insightful reading. According to its findings, Instagram mentions show that arts and culture are the top travel motivators in Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia -ahead of shopping, beach activities and gastronomy. Visitors to the region are drawn to experiences that reflect local identity and values, offering participation rather than passive observation. For hospitality staff, this shift means guests arrive with more specific, social-media-driven expectations. Frontline teams must now not only deliver efficiency, but also be culturally aware, offering personalized service and storytelling at every touchpoint.

Sharing good news

Sustainability has also gone mainstream. Booking.com’s 2024 Sustainable Travel Report found that 83 percent of travelers consider sustainable travel important, even if many struggle to act on it due to cost or confusion. That makes credible sustainability practices essential, from water and energy reduction to supplier engagement. Additionally, it requires staff to not only deliver them but also explain them to guests.

Meanwhile, digital and contactless experiences such as mobile check-in and digital keys are reshaping the choreography of service. Staff need new competencies: digital fluency, data privacy awareness and the ability to manage recovery when technology falters.

A new era of learning

Just as hospitality is being reinvented, so too is workforce development. Micro-credentials are moving into the mainstream. A 2024 global survey of more than 1,000 higher education leaders found that half had already integrated micro-credentials. Significantly, most were also planning to expand them within five years. The UAE has already issued a national Credit Bearing Micro-Credentials framework, providing a shared language between employers and providers. In Saudi Arabia, the National eLearning Center has launched MicroX, offering hundreds of short university programs through FutureX to align skills with labor market needs.

Immersive training is also accelerating competence. PwC research found that VR learners train up to four times faster, feel 275 percent more confident in applying skills and stay more focused than their classroom peers. For a sector with high turnover, this creates compelling economics for workforce development.

Formalizing AI training

Artificial intelligence (AI) adds another dimension. Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index revealed that three-quarters of global knowledge workers already use AI, yet fewer than 40 percent receive formal training. In hospitality, AI learning programs must address prompting, verification, privacy and bias. They need to embed safe and effective AI practice into daily operations rather than leaving it to informal experimentation. In this way, frontline teams can improve service quality while protecting trust, as well as focusing more on creating the authentic, human connections that today’s travelers value most.

These shifts are translating into action across the GCC. Qatar has paired a 25 percent year-on-year surge in visitors and hotel expansion with systematic frontline training, from digital learning modules to targeted in-person programs tackling service gaps in mid-market hotels. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is scaling investment through new schools and a landmark USD 1 billion Riyadh School for Tourism and Hospitality. Meanwhile, the UAE is advancing Emiratization in hospitality and retail by equipping UAE nationals with skills to thrive in a rapidly evolving economy. Key partnerships supporting these efforts include an initiative set up between Dubai College of Tourism and Al-Futtaim Group. Across the region, governments and industry are now realizing that alongside infrastructure, service quality and skilled talent will define competitiveness.

A GCC agenda for skills

People are at the heart of hospitality and the region’s investments in training and education recognize that service excellence ultimately depends on the skills and adaptability of its workforce.

As tourism grows and digitally savvy, AI-influenced travelers reshape expectations, the sector needs an upskilled workforce. These skills need to include the ability to map key guest moments that shape outcomes, from arrival to complaint recovery.

Short, targeted learning modules can be linked to clear performance goals. Moreover, these micro-credentials should be built to stack into recognized certifications that connect to occupational standards, pay and progression. Ten-minute modules can be combined with VR simulations to rehearse high-stakes scenarios such as safety or accessibility. AI training should be integrated into standard operating procedures through practical playbooks, while sustainability must be embedded into service delivery rather than treated as a side project.

What makes hospitality special is human connection. Guests don’t want to deal only with machines at check-in, they expect personal interaction, supported by technology in the right balance. The GCC is investing billions in rooms and attractions, but the real differentiator will be people and the systems that equip them. The organizations that make learning continuous, modular and measurable will translate the ongoing industry shifts into higher satisfaction, stronger margins and talent that stays.