Saudi hospitality company Dur Hospitality has launched a training academy specialized in hospitality disciplines. The announcement was made during a special event attended by the company’s CEO Sultan Al-Otaibi and a number of its senior officials, in addition to a group of notable local and international hospitality sector professionals.

Dur’s CEO highlighted the importance of the academy, which he said aims to equip local talents interested in working in this sector with the necessary skills and qualifications. He added that the academy’s goals also include training current Dur employees and equipping them with knowledge and applied skills that they require to succeed. He elaborated that the academy will operate over two phases, with the first seeking to fulfill the company’s requirements and ensuring its staff is qualified to execute its future expansion strategy ongoing till 2020, while the second phase will contribute toward supplying the local hotel service sector with qualified and capable national talents.

Al-Otaibi said the academy’s ultimate objective is to equip trainees with world-class skills and provide them with guidance from local and international sector leaders to help them achieve excellence.

The academy will present a number of training programs that aim to raise the qualification and skill level among trainees, which will eventually reflect positively on the Saudi hospitality sector. These programs will cover three main parts, where the first part will include programs on leadership and supervision and will last for 12 months. It will cater to internal supervision and front desk employees, food and beverage production and service employees, and marketing and sales employees.

The second part will be dedicated to training new recruits and will last between three to six months. Likewise, it will include training front desk employees, internal supervision employees, food and beverage production and service employees, and marketing and sales employees.

The third part of the program will include shorter development courses that last between one and five days. It will cover topics including central management for internal and external operations, hotel management, customer service, and health and safety.

Established in 1976, Dur Hospitality has extensive record in managing, developing and operating a wide portfolio of hotels and residential compounds across the Kingdom.