Hotel and tourism sector offers good opportunity for young Saudi men and women to prove their capabilities and get promising jobs and many of them have already established their position in the industry by holding different positions from baggage porter to cook and managers. Majed Al-Anazi, principal of the College of Tourism and Hotel Business in Madinah, said major hotel companies were competing with one another to recruit his college's graduates. "About 98 percent of our graduates have got jobs," he told Al-Madina Arabic daily. He expected that the Kingdom's tourism sector would create 1 million jobs by 2020. "The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation has been signing agreements with institutions to employ the college's graduates." Muneer Bin Mohammed Nasser, chairman of Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed his satisfaction over the growing number of Saudi men and women employed in the hotel sector. "The number of hotels is growing in Madinah and they need professionals." He commended Madinah Emir Prince Faisal Bin Salman for increasing job opportunities of Saudis in the hotel and tourism sector. "Hotels have become a major industry in Saudi Arabia attracting lots of investment. Makkah and Madinah draw 75 percent of this investment," he added. Young Saudi men working in Madinah hotels spoke about their success stories. Omar Al-Sulami, who has spent two years as a receptionist, said he was proud of working in a hotel and was not bothered about negative social perception about hotel jobs. "I work hard to develop my skills and capabilities to achieve better positions in hotel business," Al-Sulami told Al-Madina. He said hotel guests, especially Saudis, were giving him big support and encouragement. Mustafa Al-Sabbar said he has been working as a baggage porter at Inter.Continental Hotel for the last three years. "I have been receiving positive comments from customers. I will work hard in this profession to reach the position of a supervisor," he said. Al-Sabbar hoped more Saudis would join the profession to replace expatriates. At the hotel's reception, Al-Madina observed a number of young Saudi men talking to foreign guests in different languages with a smile. One of them has been studying tourism and hotel business at the University of Western Kentucky in the US. "During vacation I come to the Kingdom and work in hotels to receive practical training. I will return to the US at the end of vacation," he said. He emphasized that receptionists should be fluent in English, should have good communication skills and talk to guests with a high degree of respect and should be courteous and elegant. "I have enjoyed doing this job and I look forward to become a supervisor of receptionists in an international hotel after completing my education," he added. Abdul Elah Babkir, who has got extensive experience in hotel industry in Bahrain, Dubai and Al-Khobar, is now a senior manager of Inter.Continental Madinah. "I graduated from the College of Tourism and Hotel Business five years ago. I began my career as a room service boy and tried to improve my English language and I gradually became supervisor of receptionists," he said. Babkir has an ambition to reach the highest position in the group one day. The hotel job has enabled Mohammed Al-Jabiri to work with well-known international chefs and prepare tasty Western and oriental dishes with a Madinah touch. "I joined the hotel's kitchen two years ago after graduating from the College of Tourism and Hotel Business. I am now in charge of preparing eastern sweets with the support of international cooks. You can find rarely a Saudi in this job," he said, adding that he was earning a good salary. Ammar Mustafa graduated from an American college in professional safety and health. "I joined this job because of my interest in cooking, leaving my specialization, which is entirely different from my work." Mustafa wants to become owner of a chain of restaurants in the Kingdom. Talaat Abuauf, public relations manager at the hotel, has 23 years experience in hotel industry. "I began my career as a receptionist in a hotel before being promoted to supervisor of receptionists. Later I worked as an executive at an international hotel," he said and urged Saudi youth to make use of job opportunities in hotel business and tourism.
