Marriott To Hire 12,000 Staff

Marriott International will need to recruit more than 12,000 staff over the next five years in order to meet the needs of its growing collection of hotels in the Middle East and Africa.

Speaking at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) 2012 in Dubai, Alex Kyriakides, president and managing director of Marriott International, Middle East and Africa, confirmed that the number of jobs at Marriott hotels in the region is expected to increase by 100 per cent from 11,800 to over 24,000 by the end of 2017, highlighting the company’s ongoing investment in the region.

The company also said it will focus its recruitment on the UAE where it will hire 4,400 new associates.

“Today we have 38 existing properties in 11 countries across seven lodging brands and a further 43 hotels under development which will more than double the number of hotels in the Middle East and Africa over the next five years. These figures are a measure of our commitment to the growth and development of the region’s tourism sector,” said Kyriakides.

The announcement follows yesterday’s signing of the Residence Inn by Marriott in Kuwait City, the third Residence Inn by Marriott for extended stay travellers in the GCC.

The company announced the 1608-room JW Marriott Marquis Dubai in Q4 last year. The Marquis endorsement is reserved for iconic properties in the Marriott International portfolio, defined by their scale and location. The new JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai will be the first JW Marriott Marquis branded property outside of North America and will target luxury business travellers as well as the lucrative and increasingly important MICE market.

“We are looking to recruit ahead of the launch of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai later this year and will be integrating digital fully into the process, embracing the innovation that the medium offers,” said Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai.

“We are leveraging platforms that can give us global reach and will be connecting with individuals who can bring unique and radical thinking to our hotel and give us a competitive edge over the rest of the sector.”

Currently seven of Marriott’s 18 brands are currently represented in the region: JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard by Marriott Hotels, Residence Inn by Marriott and the Marriott Executive Apartments for extended stay travelers.

Now in its eighth year, the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman Dubai Airports and chairman, Emirates Airlines & Group, and organised by MEED Events in partnership with Bench Events.

The three-day event will comprise a programme designed to explore the outlook for investment in the Middle East’s changing landscape and will take place from 28 – 30 April at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.