Millennium Hotels & Resorts has stated that hiring local talent is a must for operators looking to succeed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Hotelier Middle East at the Saudi Arabia Hospitality Investment Conference (SHIC), the group’s president, Ali Hamad Lakhraim Alzaabi said Saudisation is a top priority for the company.
Alzaabi explained: “We announced last year the programme focused on local-hiring and promoting Saudi nationals to the future hoteliers in the industry. You can’t grow in Saudi Arabia thinking you can do everything by bringing expats into the country.”
Saudisation is a key mission of the Saudi Vision 2030, a reformation plan to diversify the Kingdom’s economy, stimulate employment and ween the country’s economy off of oil-dependency.
Alzaabi elaborated that Saudi tourism has its own identity and therefore requires locals in the workforce. He continued: “It’s a totally different country with totally different departments and cultures, needs, so it’s much easier for operators to adapt to that. It makes operators’ lives much easier to hire local talent.”
Beyond reaching Saudisation targets, Alzaabi believes hiring locals will help hotel operators become more successful. He concluded: “We’re not only trying to reach a target, but we also need to adapt as a culture regardless of targets. We need to believe that the more locals you have managing your hotels and your businesses, the more successful the companies will be.”
Along with hiring, the group also pledges to train employees. Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA offers its own TooMooH programme, which aims to develop Saudi nationals to become hospitality industry leaders of the future.
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