Mark Willis, vice president Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, The Rezidor Hotel Group reveals his expectations for the year ahead in the Middle East hospitality industry.
What is your hero hotel opening in 2015 and why?
We are particularly excited about the opening of the upper upscale Radisson Blu Resort Jizan. This is Carlson Rezidor’s first project in Jizan, one of Saudi Arabia’s major shipping ports on the Red Sea. The full service hotel will be located on the Jizan Waterfront, off the Makkah and Corniche Roads Roundabout.
| Advertisement |
It will be only 3km away from the city centre and 5km from Jizan’s regional airport. The area surrounding the hotel and the entire city are witnessing major developments, including an oil refinery development spear-headed by Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and gas company.
The Radisson Blu Resort Jizan will include 150 contemporary rooms with signature services such as free high-speed internet access, a 250m² all-day dining restaurant, a 100m² lobby cafe, almost 3,000m² of meeting and event facilities including two ballrooms, as well as wellness facilities with an outdoor pool.
How will the recruitment landscape evolve in the Middle East hotel industry in 2015?
We are seeing a trend towards the achievement of nationalisation targets, especially in the GCC. The biggest challenge we’ve encountered with this though is that job seekers are faced with so many options of work in other industries.
A national who is a fresh graduate will have the option to work in government or in finance among many other industries. What we really need to focus on is attracting national talent to Rezidor and the broader hospitality industry, in a way that will make them want to pursue this as a valid career choice above other industries.
With the UAE government so focused on hospitality and tourism, I think the next few years will be an interesting time for the industry here. Training colleges and institutes will be set up to develop the skills for the people who will then execute the plans for Expo 2020. Building hotels is necessary, but you also need talented people to run these hotels. The ideal situation would be to develop a home-grown talent base that can fulfil the demands of travellers into the UAE because educated, home-grown hospitality employees are the best way to sustain this industry.
In 2014, the onslaught of more competition, balancing stakeholder requirements, and the decline in traditional markets such as CIS were reported as major challenges for GMs. What will be the major challenges for GMs in 2015?
The downturn of the CIS market has been felt very strongly throughout the UAE as it has always been a major producer for the region. The seasonality and stay pattern of these guests is quite unique, and so a key focus moving forward is to maximise all other segments and source markets to cover this deficiency and to explore new markets.
Interview continues on next page...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
