MONTREUX, Switzerland, 12 June 2005 — In March 2005, a delegation from Switzerland Tourism (ST) met members of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). The Swiss delegation wanted to learn about “Saudization” — specifically to identify how Switzerland, could share with Saudi Arabia its considerable knowledge and experience in the hospitality and hotel business. As a follow-up to the Swiss delegation’s visit to Riyadh, Federico Sommaruga, the head of the delegation, and the Swiss ambassador, Dominik Alder, invited the members of RCCI to visit Switzerland and see what opportunities existed for both countries and also to better understand Saudi Arabia’s needs during the Saudization process and beyond.
The Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both Riyadh and the Eastern Province extended an invitation to their members who are active in the hotel and restaurant industry in the Kingdom. A total of 11 delegates — 9 from Riyadh and two from the Eastern Province — and this journalist were part of the Saudi group. From Riyadh the delegates were Mohammed I. Al-Mojel, chairman of the Tourism Commission for the RCCI, Abdulrahman Mohammed Al-Sanie, general manager of Asia Group Hotels, Faisal A. Al-Mutlaq, chairman of Al-Mutlaq Hotels Group, Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh Al-Anbar, general manager of Saudi Hotels and Resorts, Fahad Mohammed Al-Fawaz, operations and general manager of Saudi Hotels & Resorts, Ali M. Al-Dakmari, project consultant at Al-Mutlaq Group, Mohammad Al-Nashwan, president of Hartt Hotel Consulting, Khalid Kamal, general manager of Mirador Restaurant Group and Abdullah Mohammed Al-Tamimi, director of the Services Sector Department at the RCCI. Those from the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce were Saeed Al-Zahrani, public relations coordinator and Mohammed A. Al-Hushali, a member of the committee. Representing Switzerland were Federico Sommaruga, director of GCC/India & Russia Switzerland Tourism, Larbi El Attari, commercial officer at the Swiss Embassy in Riyadh and Tawfik Melli, representative of Swiss Tourism in Dubai for the GCC.
The visit to Switzerland took place from May 30 to June 2 with the visits, meetings and contacts focused on Saudization needs. Switzerland Tourism organized visits to private universities, finishing schools, boarding schools and colleges, as well as some specialized hotel management and travel and tourism schools. Sommaruga explained, “This mission presented the delegates the education and training opportunities available in Switzerland and the type of infrastructure used for this purpose.”
The delegation stayed at the five-star deluxe Montreux Palace Hotel overlooking Lake Geneva. Built in 1906, it is considered by many the premier hotel on the Swiss Riviera. On the first day, the delegates went for an evening cruise on Lake Geneva and later had dinner at the Hotel Mirador Kempinski where they met Martin Kisseleff, chairman of the Swiss Hotel Schools Association. The following day there was a visit to the European University, where delegates met the university President Professor Dirk Craen and took part in a panel discussion with Bernard Gademann, the president of Institut Monte Rosa Monmtreux and Fritz Sidler, president of Institut Surval Mont-Fleuri Montreux. The highlight of the day was a visit to College du Leman in Versoix where the delegation met founder Christoph Clivaz who regaled them with tales of the college dating back to the early 1940s. One Saudi delegate was so impressed with the campus and the curriculum that he enrolled his son in College du Leman’s summer program on the spot. The delegates enjoyed lunch which included crab and lobster cooked in the college’s kitchen. Then they returned to Geneva and had dinner at the Hotel Mandarin Oriental du Rhone where they met Marco Torriani, the hotel’s general manager and chairman of Hotel School Lausanne, Dr. Christian Rey, chairman of the Swiss Hotel Association and chairman of the Geneva Tourist office, Patrick Mayer, Secretary general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Geneva and Ellias Attia, Secretary General of the Swiss-Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Geneva.
The third day the delegation visited Les Roches Swiss Hotel Association’s School of Hotel Management in Bluche. During that visit, the delegation met Walter Loser, president of the Crans-Montana Tourist Office and were shown the school’s facilities by Taylor Clive, director of the school. The Saudi delegates were delighted to meet Hussam Ahmad Al-Ghoneim, a Saudi student at Les Roches who will graduate next semester. He has been approached by several international hotel chains but is seriously considering an offer from Taiwan at the moment. According to Loser, 14 major hotel corporations come to Les Roches every year to recruit from among their graduates. A panel discussion followed with the Chairman of the Hotel Association of Crans-Montana the Chairman of the Restaurants Association of Crans-Montana, and Walter Loser. Lunch was prepared on the premises and served by the students.
After lunch, the delegation went to Sierre where they were received by Jaco Zuiderent, Director of the Ecole Suisse de Tourisme de Sierre, Yves Rey, manager Department of Economy and Services, and Rolf Wilk, manager of the Continuing Education Program.
On their last evening the delegates were guest at a gala VIP dinner, hosted by Switzerland Tourism, served in the Salon de Musique at the Montreux Palace Hotel. Among those attending were Dominik Alder, the Swiss ambassador in Riyadh, Habib ibn Ali ibn Salem, Saudi ambassador to Switzerland, Nabil Mohamad Al-Saleh, consul general of Saudi Arabia in Geneva and Michel Ferla, vice-president of Switzerland Tourism. Following the delegation’s return to, Arab News telephoned Sommaruga. He said: “The delegation left Switzerland on June 2 with great memories and constructive accomplishments. The Swiss Embassy in Riyadh on behalf of Switzerland Tourism, and the RCCI + CCI EP have agreed to work on the following for the near future. We want to encourage continued education for Saudis in hotel management with possibly up to 20 students being sent to Switzerland to get basic education in hotel management. We aim to transfer the Swiss know-how in hotel management and the tourism industry to Saudi Arabia and will work toward the creation of a Tourism Commission — Saudi and Swiss — which will meet regularly in Switzerland or Saudi Arabia.”
