Abdul Karim Al Atiq has worked his way up from the bottom to the top, despite often facing negative attitudes. Abdul Karim Al Atiq has worked his way up from the bottom to the top, despite often facing negative attitudes.

Coral International Hotel Al Khobar has a prized asset – a Saudi Arabian general manager. Here, Abdul Karim Al Atiq tells Guy Wilkinson how he battled to enter and then progress in the hotel industry, and gives his advice for aspiring Saudi hoteliers looking to follow in his footsteps.

The Middle East hotel industry can be clearly divided between the countries of the Levant and the Maghreb, in which the vast majority of employees are local nationals, and the GCC, in which the opposite is true, and most staff are foreign expatriates.

It is all too easy for us ‘expats’ to assume that Gulf nationals simply do not want to work in hotels, due to the long hours and relatively low pay for which our profession is unfortunately renowned.

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But that would be to over-simplify matters. The truth is that for locals who do want to enter the sector, it has historically been extremely difficult.

Take the example of Abdul Karim Al Atiq, the general manager of the Coral International Hotel — Al Khobar.

Having enjoyed the experience of summer work experience at the National Commercial Bank while still at high school, he went on to study English literature at the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh (our conversation was interspersed with references to Shakespeare).

Upon graduating with a BA degree in March 1993, Al Atiq began seeking full-time work, as he explains: “I tried so many times to find a job, but only part-time opportunities were available — night shifts, summer jobs, etc. I went to the airport, the customs, hospitals.

I had the taste of work — my way was the hard way. I wasn’t like my friends. Right after school they would go and have a nap, then [enjoy the] night life. I wasn’t like that. I wanted to spend my time [doing] useful things.”

Finally, a friend introduced him to the HR people of the Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers.

“They told me ‘welcome’, but nothing happened. It was tough. Let me tell you frankly, it was not easy for a Saudi to be accepted by non-Saudis,” recalls Al Atiq. “Our country was booming, but unfortunately there was not much opportunity for Saudis themselves.”

With his application form forgotten at the bottom of the pile, Al Atiq refused to take no for an answer. He went directly to the hotel’s GM, one Karl Franck, who wanted to know why Atiq would consider a career in hotels. He replied that he liked staying in hotels and wanted to know what went on behind the scenes. Franck liked his answer.

“He said, ‘yes, but we need to provide service here’. I said: ‘Service? We are the best people to provide service! Don’t listen to what the others say.’” Al Atiq also impressed Franck by stating that his ultimate career goal was to become a general manager himself.