RIYADH: There are plans to increase the number of Saudi women in the tourism sector, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The director general of the National Center for Tourism Human Resources Development, Nasser Al-Nashmi, said more than 9,000 women had benefited from the body’s training programs. The center intended to train around 25,000 women by 2020, including 1,400 tour guides, SPA reported Al-Nashmi as saying. “There are 8,108 tourism graduates in the Kingdom and there are plans to increase the number by 10 percent in the upcoming years,” he said. The female participation rate in the tourism sector is currently 22 percent. He said the center was helping to localize employment by developing the skills of Saudi nationals.