More than 200 young Saudi nationals visited a job fair, which was organized by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in Madinah recently.

InterContinental Dar Al-Iman, the job fair, is part of a targeted effort by the company to recruit and invest in the Kingdom’s young talent.

Local students, including 10 females, had the chance to gain insight into a career into the hospitality industry with IHG, one of the world’s largest hotel groups.

There are currently more than 100 upcoming vacancies for Saudi nationals at IHG properties in Madinah alone.

Two of the three InterContinental hotels in the city, InterContinental Dar Al-Iman and InterContinental Dar Al-Hijra — are actively recruiting, as is the soon-to-open Crowne Plaza Madinah, the first Crowne Plaza hotel in the city.

Many of those who attended the job fair are already keenly pursuing careers in the hospitality industry as students at IHG’s academy partner in Madinah, the Madinah College of Tourism & Hospitality.

One of the young students who attended the session was Saeed Shalaby who studied at Yanbu Industrial College.

Saeed said: “When I arrived at the job fair I was expecting to go inside an office, submit my documents and wait for a call from HR. Instead, we were escorted around the hotel and treated to a presentation about IHG and what our future with the company could look like. I am proud to say that I have just joined the Engineering Department at InterContinental Dar Al Iman as a Maintenance Manager.”

Pascal Gauvin, chief operating officer, India, Middle East and Africa for IHG commented: “I wish these young hoteliers the best of luck in their future hospitality careers.”

IHG has 22 hotels open in the Kingdom and plans ambitious growth over the next five years with eight hotels in the development pipeline.