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Dubai, UAE: Extending their support to the KSA government’s Vision 2030, The Ascott Limited is among the few private companies that have stepped in to support the Kingdom’s Saudization endeavour with its global and local programmes.
First introduced in 2016 across a few of its properties in the Middle East, Ascott’s global talent project ‘The Serviced Residence Manager Programme’ (SRMP) is an enormous milestone opportunity for executive level employees. The programme, which was developed by the brand’s headquarters and has been running across Ascott’s properties worldwide for years, is now a burgeoning topic across Ascott’s Saudi properties with the selection of its first Saudi participant in Riyadh last year. Ascott Rafal Olaya Riyadh took the lead by nominating an executive level Saudi talent to the programme.
SRMP is designed to meet the growing need of operationally-ready staff to manage Ascott’s serviced residences, and in Saudi Arabia will be aimed at training Saudi talents to higher positions within the group, thus empowering Saudization in the country’s corporate segment.
Combining intensive classroom-based learning with on-the-job practical training and mentoring, the SRMP takes approximately 33 weeks for eligible Ascott employees to complete. By the end of the programme, successful candidates will be ready to take on senior roles of assistant residence managers and residence managers, anywhere within the Ascott group.
“As the group continues to enjoy unprecedented growth, it’s vital we plan ahead by equipping our high-potential middle management staff with the skills profile they will need to one day manage and operate an Ascott serviced residence,” says Vincent Miccolis, Ascott’s Regional General Manager for Middle East, Africa, Turkey and India. “From theoretical background in finance management to fine-tuning their housekeeping, guest service, operations and leadership skills, the SRMP course has been strategically designed to transform our most promising hospitality talent into the future leaders of Ascott.”
“Investing heavily in the developmental potential of our staff maximises our talent retention and supports the group’s overall growth strategy. A salient feature of the programme includes sending participants to the Corporate Training Centre in Singapore, which encourages them to network with the global Ascott family and share best working practices,” Miccolis adds.
Parallelly, taking the lead at regional level, Ascott also launched the Saudi Graduate Programme in June 2019, in alignment with the aims of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage to encourage and support domestic tourism. The Saudi Graduate Programme empowers Saudi talents whereby high-achieving Saudi nationals are trained in the skills needed to take on managerial leadership positions within the dynamic hospitality career path in the Ascott group.
“These are exciting times in Saudi Arabia with the Kingdom gradually embracing a historic series of cultural reforms,” says Miccolis. “As the nation pushes ahead with Saudization and the Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s tourism industry is evolving at a rapid pace and creating a wealth of new jobs within the hospitality sector.”
Initially launched across Ascott’s Jeddah cluster of properties that include Ascott Sari Jeddah, Ascott Tahlia Jeddah, Citadines Al Salamah Jeddah and Spectrums Residence Jeddah, Ascott plans to roll out its Saudi Graduate Programme across all the group’s residences in the Kingdom, including those located in the capital, Riyadh, as well as in the cities of Al Khobar and Abha.
“High-profile training initiatives such as our Saudi Graduate Programme play a vital role in helping to promote, nurture, develop and diversify this valuable homegrown pool of young talent,” adds Miccolis.
At last year’s World Travel Awards, Ascott was named Saudi Arabia’s ‘Leading Serviced Apartment Brand’ for the third year in a row, while Ascott Sari Jeddah was again named Saudi Arabia’s ‘Leading Serviced Apartment’. These high-profile wins not only underline the Ascott brand’s prestige within the Kingdom, but also serve to highlight the ever-growing opportunities for Saudi nationals within the hospitality industry.
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About The Ascott Limited
The Ascott Limited is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott's portfolio spans more than 180 cities across over 30 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the USA.
Ascott has more than 68,000 operating units and close to 44,000 units under development, making a total of more than 112,000 units in over 720 properties.
The company's serviced residence and hotel brands include Ascott, The Crest Collection, Somerset, Quest, Citadines, lyf, Préférence, Vertu, Harris, Citadines Connect, Fox, Yello and POP!.
Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.
Ascott’s achievements have been recognised internationally. Recent awards include World Travel Awards 2019 for 'Leading Serviced Apartment Brand' in Asia, Europe and the Middle East; Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards 2019 for 'Best Serviced Residence Brand'; DestinAsian Readers' Choice Awards 2019 for ‘Best Serviced Residence Brand’; TTG China Travel Awards 2019 for ‘Best Serviced Residence Operator in China’. For a full list of awards, please visit https://www.the-ascott.com/ascottlimited/awards.html.
About CapitaLand Limited
CapitaLand Limited (CapitaLand) is one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, it owns and manages a global portfolio worth S$131.7 billion as at 30 September 2019. CapitaLand’s portfolio spans across diversified real estate classes which includes commercial, retail; business park, industrial and logistics; integrated development, urban development; as well as lodging and residential. With a presence across more than 200 cities in over 30 countries, the Group focuses on Singapore and China as its core markets, while it continues to expand in markets such as India, Vietnam, Australia, Europe and the USA.
CapitaLand has one of the largest real estate investment management businesses globally. It manages eight listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and business trusts as well as over 20 private funds. Since it pioneered REITs in Singapore with the listing of CapitaLand Mall Trust in 2002, CapitaLand’s REITs and business trusts have expanded to include Ascendas Reit, CapitaLand Commercial Trust, Ascott Residence Trust, CapitaLand Retail China Trust, Ascendas India Trust, CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust.
Visit www.capitaland.com for more information.
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