Jumeirah hiring 1,300 in the UAE this year as global giants axe staff
Posted on 02 August 2011 with no comments from readers
No clearer indication of the recovery in the UAE hospitality sector could be found than news that the Jumeirah Group will have hired an extra 1,300 staff for two new hotels by the end of the year.
The hotel is now recruiting 400 employees for its new Jumeirah Creekside Hotel in Garhoud in Dubai to open this autumn, while the Dubai-owned hotel operator has just finished recruiting 900 staff for its Etihad Towers property in Abu Dhabi opening November 1st.
Jumeirah opened four new hotels around the world in the first half of the year with the Frankfurt Jumeirah (pictured above) the latest addition to the chain, and the two new UAE hotels will bring the total for 2011 to six.
High occupancy level
The group has also reported 85 per cent occupancy levels for the first four months of the year. Dubai hotel occupancy received a major boost from the Arab Spring with tour operators diverting to Dubai. Revenue per available room was up by seven per cent as rates continue to be lower than in the boom years.
However, the contrast in the good fortune of Jumeirah is evident against the gloomy jobs market among global multinationals with HSBC announcing a stunning 10 per cent, 30,000 cut in staff numbers only yesterday.
ArabianMoney thinks there is a pattern here. We argued last week at a major investment conference in Vancouver that the UAE would win from oil price inflation and political stability over the next few years (click here).
Currently depressed UAE stock markets therefore offer excellent value and should go up, albeit we acknowledge that the downward momentum in global bourses may now delay the recognition of that value by investors.
