Al-Eissa explained that a Hotel Keepers Association had been set up, upon which SCTA only had a chair position, because “it is highly important that the sector develops the trade association by and through themselves”. To support this, he said that the SCTA had run several workshops with accommodation owners and operators, in particular in relation to new regulations and best practices.
“It is highly important to have a continuous open dialogue with the sector, in order to guide and enable the sector to have the utmost self control and sufficiency,” said Al-Eissa. “The future importance of the accommodation sector and of tourism in general as main drivers of the Saudi Arabian economy and employers cannot be stressed enough.”
Panellist Hussein Hatata of AKMC agreed that the communication between hoteliers and the government was enabling industry experts to have more involvement in decisions.
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“The hospitality industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing a transformation due to SCTA setting minimum standards and specifications for classifications and ratings, and tremendous achievements have been made in this regard as a first phase,” said Hatata.
“There is an existing mechanism for working together through SCTA’s Consulting Committee, as well as Hotel Committee in the Chamber of Commerce. These committees are presently producing excellent results. Based on the topics and projects being discussed, SCTA is involving more professionals in the decision making process and also supporting the committees with adequate study and research through international sources and criteria,” he added.
“Moving forward, I wish that SCTA will soon launch to the public the specifications for five-star plus classification so the new entrants to the market are aware of the requirements that are to be in place right from the beginning, as many hotel projects are presently in progress,” said Hatata.
He also praised SCTA’s encouragement of Saudi Nationals to join the hospitality industry, a topic that will be addressed by Abdullah Al-Weshail, general manager, National Project for Tourism Human Resource Development, SCTA, in his panel session at The KSA GM Debate.
Al-Weshail said that SCTA had developed a five-year plan in order to reach 80% Saudisation in hospitality, starting with 32% in the first year in 2011.
The challenges in achieving this were “a shortage of training and educational institutions, qualified individuals, low wages and a dependency on expats as cheap labour”, said Al-Weshail.
Still, the incentives for hoteliers to reach this figure are there; with SCTA organising professional training programmes and securing funding for such training, along with subsidising wages for the first two years for a Saudi National through the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF).
These opportunities, and many more, will be discussed and debated in detail at The KSA GM Debate. To find out more or register your interest in attending, please contact Michael.mcgill@itp.com. If you are interested in sponsoring The KSA GM Debate, please contact diarmuid.omalley@itp.com or sarah.worth@itp.com
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