JEDDAH, 8 December 2005 — A plan is under way to facilitate the graduation and employment of 12,000 young Saudis in the Kingdom’s hospitality industry over a period of time.
They will graduate from four schools in the hotel trade being set up in the Kingdom’s major cities. “Two of these schools — in Riyadh and Jeddah will open in 2007, followed by one in Dammam and another in Madinah,” Dr. Abderahman Belgat, director general of Accor Saudi Arabia and general manager of Saudi French Co. for Hotel Management, told a press conference at Alhamra Sofitel Hotel on Tuesday. “Our plan is to facilitate the graduation and employment of 12,000 young Saudis by 2050, as part of our vision and goals, “ said Belgat who was part of an Accor Group team that held a road show on promoting Saudi visitors to Morocco, on board a floating restaurant in north Obhur on Monday night.
“Our road show here coincides with the visit of Morocco’s King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan to the extraordinary summit of Islamic countries in Makkah,” he said. “We contribute our bit in the Moroccan government efforts to promote tourist traffic between the two kingdoms,” he added. Saudi Arabia represents more than 60 percent of the Middle East travel market and latest statistics indicate that almost six million Saudis travel annually generating room nights valued at $14 billion.
Morocco offers exciting and vibrant alternative tourist attractions all-year round, and since 2001 there is a considerable increase in the number of travelers from the Middle East. “In fact, Morocco is becoming increasingly popular for the Gulf travelers and represents one of the top five destinations from the Kingdom,” Marc Thepot, director general of Accor Maroc, said. “Our goal is to double the visitor numbers from Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf to Morocco within a year through the road shows that will cover Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai as well,” Thepot added.
Morocco currently has 22 Accor hotels - seven Sofitels, two Clubs, two Mercures, and 11 Ibis across 13 cities, with 2,500 employees.
The team included Sofitel Agadir’s General Manager Hamid Bentahar and Accor Morocco’s Director of Sales & Marketing Reda Faceh. Accor Saudi Arabia’s participants included Director of Operations Sadok Ghanoudi, and Director of Sales & Marketing Inayat Ramjean.
Belgat said Accor’s hotels in the Kingdom set for opening in 2006 include Zamzam Sofitel Grand Suites and Mercure Alazizia in Makkah, Novotel Al Anoud in Riyadh, and Sofitel Al Khobar in the Eastern Province. “We plan to open the Zamzam Sofitel Grand Suites by next Ramadan,” Belgat said adding that Accor has many projects in Madinah, two of which will be ready by next year. “With these new hotels becoming operational next year, Accor will reach 3,567 rooms,” Belgat said, adding that the French international hotel group’s portfolio will reach 56 properties across the Middle East within a year.
