Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – – – Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announced the graduation of its first cohort of students from a hospitality training programme in partnership with Bunyan for Training, an affiliate of the reputed hospitality management school in Switzerland, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL).
Since signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2022, 18 students have successfully completed the programme and joined Hilton’s growing team across its 21 trading hotels in Saudi Arabia. The graduation ceremony was held at Jeddah Hilton, attended by officials from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Human Resources, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Human Resources Fund together with senior Bunyan for Training, EHL and Hilton representatives.
Fawaz Moumina, country manager and senior director of operations, KSA, Hilton, said: “As we continue with our plans to more than quadruple our portfolio and open more than 70 hotels in the coming years, we are committed to creating 15,000 jobs, with more than half for Saudi nationals. We are proud to see the first group of graduates join our team and the second well underway, and we look forward to their future successes, which will inspire the next generation of Saudi hospitality professionals.”
Accredited by the Saudi Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and certified by EHL, the programme offers both theoretical and practical training, along with opportunities to explore various areas of hospitality such as front office, housekeeping, and more.
Looking ahead, the next cohort of 40 students, half of whom are young women, has already begun training across Hilton hotels in Saudi Arabia.