The struggle for recognition

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.

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.

The first job
With such conviction, he won the job and Franck became his guide and mentor. “Maybe I was the first Saudi who had worked with him,” comments Atiq. “Every day I started proving that we are like other people.”

The new employee paid his dues in one department after another, working as a waiter, a houseman and a receptionist, finally ending up in the sales department where — dressed to the nines in a western suit and tie, as per company policy — he excelled in reviving the ‘dead’ accounts he was given.

In 1995, after balancing his literary studies and hotel apprenticeship for two years, Al Atiq graduated with a BA but was confronted with a new challenge: the resistance of his own family.

“They wanted me to be a teacher and to live next door. They said, ‘if it’s about the money, we’ll give you the money’.” But true to his contrary nature, Al Atiq stuck to his guns.

“I said no! I know the government, they work up to 2pm and that’s it. It’s a very boring life. I like the hotel industry and above all, the fact that it’s a non-routine job. If I became a teacher, nobody would know me. I wanted to be known, and I wanted to do something!”

Promotion Time
After four years with the Sheraton, he had been promoted to sales manager and was ready for new experiences. Following yet another fight for the opportunity, he joined the Royal Protocol and started work in the Kingdom’s Guest Palaces (effectively private hotels for VIPs visiting the Saudi government).

While his teacher friends were earning SR 6,500 a month (US $1733), Al Atiq was offered just SR 3,000 ($799) in this new post.

Hoping to be paid more, he showed his degree and work experience certificates to the new GM, who remained unimpressed. “He said, ‘go then — with your salary, I could bring three Bengalis!’”

So Al Atiq knuckled down to impress his expatriate colleagues with his work ethic. “I had all their respect because I stayed longer than they did. They thought I would leave after a month or two. Later, they discovered how serious I was about the job.”

Soon he was promoted to assistant front office manager of the multiple Guest Palaces that were managed by InterContinental in such locations as Riyadh, Jeddah and Makkah (others were managed by Sheraton).

Based at the head office, he put in four years of hard grind, during which he also took correspondence courses with Lausanne and Cornell.

As the only Saudi with a hotel operational background, he was also invited to multi-task as a training coordinator, reporting to an Indian regional training manager.

With his flare as a self-starter, Al Atiq soon took it upon himself to translate the Intercontinental Training Manuals and SOPs into Arabic, a measure highly appreciated by his boss.

“Most Saudis at that time didn’t speak even basic English and just wanted to work. We had to tell them what the Palaces were about, what the hotel business was about, how courteous we should be with guests and the fact that ours were not your run of the mill type of guests,” he states.

Training Others
On a major roll, Al Atiq himself was then promoted to become regional training manager and travelled the country imparting his knowledge. “I was the candle who was burning!” he says.

One of his duties was succession planning, and ironically, the only way up for himself was to become an HR manager, which he finally did at the Makkah Guest Palace in 2000. Working there with a Saudi GM (there were still none in commercial hotels in the Kingdom), he implemented a new intensive training course to encourage young Saudis to enter the hotel business.

“The reason that Saudis didn’t want to try it was because the pay was low, they had difficulties with the language and they misunderstood the nature of service,” he comments.

The pioneering new course worked brilliantly because it offered trainees a high salary, and during the three months duration, set the record straight on many of these misconceptions.

“We taught that to work in hotels, you must understand how everything works. You must respect what others do, that work is a chain. We showed them that service is simply an extension of their innate Saudi or Arabian tradition of hospitality.

They came to understand that guests at the Palace were like the guests in their houses. You smile, you give them coffee, you offer them the best place to sit, you make their lives easier.”

With a system of continual feedback and assessment, Al Atiq’s course naturally saw a few drop-outs, but also many success stories, with Saudis entering full-time posts as bellmen, waiters, cooks, even staff house attendants.

Realising a dream
Al Atiq’s subsequent career has seen him realise his dream of managing a commercial hotel, as GM firstly of the Al Jazeera Luxury Suites in Madinah (2003-2005), and in 2009, the Coral International in Al Khobar.

Here, he has played a key role in the establishment of the HMH Training Centre in the Kingdom. While generally appreciative of the role played by the Saudi authorities in encouraging Saudisation (hotels typically have Saudisation quotas of +/- 30%, but in many cases have failed to meet them), Atiq would like to see more done in this field.

“Without training, Saudis will not have the confidence or vision to appreciate the profession, and will not stay in their jobs. Lots of Saudis like the hotel industry, but don’t find encouragement or help,” he comments. Atiq’s recommendation is for a system of scholarships to be established, as in other countries, whereby hospitality students get the opportunity to study abroad.

To Saudi graduates considering a career in hotels, he advises: “Go for it! But be patient. The Saudi hotel market is growing fast. You have a great future ahead of you!”