Hilton to Add 35,000 Jobs in GCC Push, Regional Head Says

20.11.2024 - 08:01 / skift.com / Guy Hutchinson / Josh Corder

Hilton plans to create about 35,000 new jobs across the Middle East as the travel giant launches an ambitious regional expansion that will double its portfolio with 130 new hotels and resorts.

The company’s regional president, Guy Hutchinson, said Hilton properties in the Middle East doubled guest numbers in the first nine months of the year to about 2.2 million compared to pre-pandemic. To keep up with demand, the portfolio is “at least” doubling in size with 130 new hotels, and the operator expects to generate around 35,000 new jobs in the coming years.

“It is a golden age of hospitality for the region,” Hutchinson said at Skift Global Forum East 2024 in Dubai on Wednesday. “We’re seeing this part of the world emerge as a thought and product leader. Across the region, you have these national tourism strategies underpinned by amazing infrastructure. That’s supercharging growth.”

For the first nine months of the year, the Middle East and Africa saw the highest average daily rates and revenue per available room across Hilton’s global network at $176 and $125, respectively.

Like most hotel operators in the Gulf, Hilton has benefitted from a range of public-sector partnerships. In October, Hilton and Dubai Tourism signed an agreement to work together to improve service standards and talents across hotels.

“The people pipeline is as important, if not more, than the property pipeline,” Hutchinson said of the company’s labor development efforts.

In November 2022, the operator signed a deal with Saudi’s immense Tourism Development Fund to fuel growth, and a year later, another deal with Saudi Tourism Authority to boost collaboration.

Hutchinson said on stage these government partnerships are key to growing in the region.

“That collaborative strength between public and private is what sets the region apart. And Dubai is the gold standard. It’s a world-class way of developing industry. We’re seeing that across the region though, into Abu Dhabi, into Qatar, into Saudi Arabia. In Saudi, this is fueling growth. One in four branded hotel rooms in KSA is one of our flags.”

Hutchinson added that these new hotels will generate tens of thousands of jobs in the region. “I don’t think it’s talked about enough. The people pipeline is as important, if not more, than the property pipeline. Our [new] properties will generate 30-35,000 jobs at a minimum.”

With Hilton needing to follow the government to fuel its growth, the operator has to follow how these destinations want to develop. For many years, the request has been overwhelmingly to develop luxury, but mid-market is starting to make its way in.

“25% of our portfolio in the region now is mid-market. One of the best-kept secrets is just how well-diversified the Dubai