InterContinental plans to create 6,000 new jobs at its hotels in Saudi Arabia

Dubai: The InterContinental Hotel Group is set to hire 6,000 new employees in Saudi Arabia and ‘several thousand’ more in the UAE in the next three to four years as part of an ambitious regional expansion. The British hospitality brand's current workforce numbers 30,000 for the Middle East, Africa and India operations.

In Dubai, an InterContinental brand – Vignette Collection – has aligned with the Ciel property in Dubai Marina, which will also be the world’s tallest hotel. The 80-plus-level luxury hotel will have 1,000 keys and is to open in 2025.

“When opening a hotel like Ciel, you typically need about 2,000 staff members to run the property effectively,” said Haitham Mattar, the Regional Managing Director at InterContinetal Hotel Group.

“In luxury hotels, the staffing requirement can be even higher, with 2 -2.5 employees needed per room.”

Given the company’s pipeline of close to 175 hotels in the Middle East, Africa and India, it would lead to thousands of new jobs for the hospitality sector.

“Currently, in my region, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt are the key drivers of growth for us,” said Mattar. “The (new) hotels are in various design, construction, and development stages, across various segments including luxury, mid-market and upscale brands.”

With the expanding hospitality footprint in these markets, particularly in the GCC, the competition for talent remains fierce. “We continue to face challenges and opportunities in diversity and inclusion,” said Mattar.

“We have a target to increase our women general managers by 25 per cent in the next two to three years.”

Franchising model

For the Ciel hotel in Dubai, owned by The First Group and managed by The First Group Hospitality, there is a franchise agreement with InterContinental. Royalty fees are a key revenue stream for hotel groups.

According to Mattar, out of the 200 hotels in his region, about 58 are now franchised, and that number continues to grow.

“As markets mature, we’re seeing more demand for franchising,” he added. “In mature markets, particularly Dubai, we’re seeing much more franchise demand than we did five years ago.”

“We also see increasing demand for franchises in Saudi Arabia, indicating that the market is maturing. Institutional developers are looking for portfolio deals, which is lucrative for us,” he added.

By the end 2024, the group expect to open close to 22 new hotels, including managed and franchised properties. This will elevate the total number of IHG hotels in the region to nearly 220.

“We have another 19 hotels scheduled to open next year, and 2026 will be the biggest in terms of new hotel openings,” said Mattar.