A new Dubai-based pioneering hospitality networking and human resources portal, Hozpitality.com, was launched today.

The promoters of the new portal said the rate of growth in job opportunities in the hotel industry in the Middle East, North Africa and Levant is estimated to be at 24 per cent between 2008-2011 while in GCC it would be some 20 per cent in the next four years.

'The Middle East, North Africa and Levant is now the fastest growing region for global hospitality industry with approximately 300 new committed hotel projects coming up between 2008-2011, cumulatively adding up approximately 85,900 rooms,' explained Raj Bhatt, director, Hozpitality.com.

'Once the projects come on stream they will face an enormous need for manpower, which we estimate will be to the tune of 111,650 staff. In this context, we believe Hozpitality.com could play a salient role, be it global sourcing of manpower, hotel supplies or in offering an exclusive networking platform for industry professionals,' he added.

“Hozpitality.com is much more than an ordinary job portal. We are trying to build a dedicated hospitality company where everyone wins. Normally job boards have job postings and candidates applying and that’s it. We would have much more than this,” Bhatt said.

While recruitment will be the core activity on the website, the portal will be a platform where the entire hospitality community can network while positing jobs or applying for live jobs. Regular networking events for the hospitality community would also form one of the core activities.

“We believe that the large number of committed hospitality projects in the Middle East, North Africa and Levant region, coupled with the growth in travel and tourism will help the industry sustain its growth momentum. The financial crisis may have its impact, but we do believe that what is happening in the regional hospitality industry right now is an unprecedented opportunity and Hozpitality.com stand to gain from it,” he added.

GCC leads hospitality industry, the UAE and Dubai under limelight

Bhatt said GCC has the largest share in hotel developments with approximately 240 projects expected to become operational between 2008-2011.

“Our estimate is that the Gulf countries alone would need additional manpower resources of approximately 90,000 to cater to some 69,200 rooms. The UAE leads these developments with 133 new hotels adding up approximately 42,400 rooms leading to a manpower need of 56, 000,” he said.

In the UAE, Dubai leads the hospitality industry with 90 new hotels in the next four years or cumulatively releasing approximately 30,215 rooms to the market, which will mean that there would be a need for approximately over 40,000 staff, considering that the size and magnitude of Dubai projects tend to be larger than elsewhere in the region.

In GCC, Saudi Arabia has the second largest number of new hotel developments at 45 projects with a need for 13,300 new hands, while Oman and Qatar with 23 and 21 new projects would need 7,345 and 8,100 staff respectively during 2008-2011.

Bahrain would need some 4,517 new recruits with 12 new developments expected to come on stream and Kuwait 1,700 staff with six projects.-TradeArabia News Service