JEDDAH, 5 June— Saudization and promotion of Jeddah tourism are on priority for a leading local hotel. "Our Saudization of staff has already exceeded 30 percent and our action plan for promoting tourism in the city is ready for implementation," Thomas Schmelter, new general manager of Crowne Plaza Hotel, told a press conference last week.
Schmelter, who has worked with a number of hotels in different locations including Turkey, the UK and Germany — his most recent assignment being as resident manager at Jeddah Inter.Continental Hotel, said: "Over 70 of our 250 staff are Saudi and we’ve an established training department responsible for scouting right Saudi talents and training them in all departments of the hospitality industry. Some of our Saudis trainees have been absorbed as chefs and stewards."
Public Relations Manager Mohammed Al Amoudi said the hotel was giving prominence to Saudis in training and recruitment. "They are not only enjoying their work but also doing remarkably well. We’ve lined up many programs to shape the careers of young Saudis in the hospitality industry," he added.
Schmelter said the city was potentially rich in leisure business and the hotel’s plan was to exploit it in the wake of the opening up of the tourist sector. "This, of course, is in addition to the increasing number of pilgrims coming year-round for Umrah that offers immense scope for boosting the tourist and hospitality sectors," he added.
Outlining the strategy for the ensuing summer, Schmelter said, the hotel with 323 rooms, suites and apartments was currently under extensive renovation.
For the summer, the hotel offered attractive discounts across the board for all restaurant, banquet and catering services, as well as on room rates for its VIP cardholders.
The VIP card also has additional entitlements.
"Ours is the only hotel to have every room equipped with a PC and make available the Internet round-the-clock," Schmelter said. He announced the opening of Let Petit café in the hotel lobby and the ‘Crowne Plaza club floor’ equipped with all that the business traveler looked forward to.
The hotel also offers a wide range of world-class international cuisine in its four restaurants — Al Zahra restaurant offers Mediterranean food daily, the Orchid Chinese restaurant Chinese dishes prepared by its chef from China, Sakura Japanese restaurant authentic Japanese cuisine complete with traditional Teppan and Tempura specialties and Sushi corner, and Al Yasmin Arabic restaurant traditional Arabic food that includes freshly prepared seafood.
It also has a fully equipped health and sports club with squash courts, a swimming pool and a gymnasium, 24 hours room service and a complimentary parking lot, said Schmelter who holds degrees form the Hotel Management School in Tegernsee and Munich.
He has taken several advance management courses from the Washington State University.
The Crowne Plaza Jeddah is one of the 27 Inter.Continental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn properties, including 10 palaces managed by the Six Continents Hotels & Resorts in Saudi Arabia.
Schmelter introduced his Saudi staff and management team that includes Human Resources Director Mohamed M. Al Harthy, PR Manager Mohammed Al Amoudi, F&B Director Nagy H. Arafat and Executive Housekeeper/laundry Dr. Jayant Baxi.
