Hospitality experts have said that more Saudi Arabian women apply for vacancies in hotels compared to men
“What we are trying to do at Accor is to develop them as much as possible for managerial, key positions of tomorrow. At the same time, as a French company, we want to incorporate fairness in skill development, for ladies and men.”
On the topic of equal pay for women, which is still a valid topic in “Western” countries, Belgat was firm that equal opportunity and equal pay will exist for female employees: “It is strictly followed that for the same position, you get the same package.” That is, however, with the additional information that “men and women are not being targeted for the same roles.”
Belgat, like Al Sanea, was confident that the current training drive will one day lead to Saudi Arabia’s first female GM. “That is our vision. That is what we want to achieve. Even [AccorHotels CEO] Olivier Granet has said, we are looking forward to having our first Saudi management training female graduate as a GM,” said Belgat.
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He added: “We will give them equal job opportunities. Nothing says that a woman can’t manage a man. It is a managerial programme, so the aim is for them to grow and be ambitious.”
“Local authorities are very much in favour of each hotel having a deputy general manager who is a Saudi national. When we think about the deputy GM being a national, I don’t see what would stop us from having a woman. In our hotels, we have a deputy GM that is a Saudi national, but not yet a GM that is a Saudi national. So let us address that, and then we’ll see.”
Despite this, 9.5% of readers who voted in HotelierMiddleEast.com’s poll on the subject said that the issue is that women are simply not suited to senior management positions.
Nevertheless, both Mansour and Blair agreed that female employees have already been a positive addition to their hotels. “The work ethic of the female employees is excellent,” Blair argued.
A female HR director for example, Mansour added, “is a very good indication that ladies can be managers and directors”.
“As director of HR, you are in charge of the whole hotel, which is around 360 employees. Ladies make a really big difference. They have a different vision, and they instigate a lot of improvements. So this change is, overall, very beneficial for hotels,” Mansour added.
“I’m not going to place one gender over another,” said Al Sanea.
“However, what I have seen with my own eyes, is that females do have more commitment. They are ambitious. I think, due to their initiative and their commitment, they do add a positive touch to any department they join. I do hope we can have more females, because we do have a sufficient number of males already,” she concluded.
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