Boom Time Ahead For Country's Hospitality Sector

The country’s hospitality sector, which is on a fast growth track, is set to expand at an even greater pace thanks to the World Expo 2020, according to top executives of the hospitality and catering industry who are gathering at a key industry event in Sharjah.

The UAE hospitality sector ranked fifth globally for new hotel openings over the past five years, which is set to change fast as the country adds more rooms and other facilities as part of the preparations to host the world’s third largest event in 2020.

“The World Expo 2020 is going to be a big game changer for the country’s hospitality industry. Even during the slowdown, the sector was driving the country’s economy... now it is going to be a direct beneficiary of the winning bid to host the expo,” said Mr. Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, CEO, Expo Centre Sharjah, as the hospitality industry converged on the inaugural Kitchen Equipment & Technology Exhibition Middle East at Expo Centre Sharjah.

The exhibition was opened on Dec 16 and will continue until Dec 18, alongside the second OIC Halal Middle East Exhibition & Congress and the 12th Chinese Commodities Fair Sharjah. It is providing the region’s hospitality and catering sector easy access to latest kitchen essentials such as food storage, preparation and handling technologies & products.

“Looking at the number of hotel rooms needed to accommodate visitors and participants to the World Expo, the large number of jobs the event will create and the equipment & manpower required, the hospitality sector will be on an overdrive for years to come. The Kitchen Equipment fair is tailor-made to address the surging needs of equipment and technology arising out of this boom,” added Mr. Midfa.

As preparations for World Expo 2020 get under way, more than 270,000 new jobs are to be created in the next few years, while the number of new hotel rooms required is estimated at nearly 45,000 to accommodate more than 25 million visitors who are expected to turn up for the mega event.

“The whole country needs to be well prepared to meet this demand, with some predicting that the demand may spill over to neighbouring countries. The demand for food and beverages too will be vast and varied and the industry will need thousands of new hands and hundreds of new facilities to dish out delicacies to participants and visitors” said Ms. Shanaaz Raja, Course Director of ICCA - the International Centre for Culinary Arts-Dubai.

Finding skilled people to work in key industries in the Gulf has become a daunting task due to high demand for the talent needed to support the region’s rapid economic expansion.

The solution to the said challenge is to develop new & quality resources by way of Vocational Education and Training.

“Our partner for the kitchen equipment show, the International Centre for Culinary Arts-Dubai will be the best bet to train new hands, as ICCA is well equipped to prepare people to suit specific requirements of the event so that the industry can readily absorb them,” added Mr. Midfa.

ICCA-Dubai, which equips chefs in industry best practices, is anchoring the key attraction of the exhibition, the Chef’s Corner, presenting live demonstrations on using kitchen equipment, new technology & multi-tasking capabilities of new generation kitchen equipment.

The Kitchen Equipment industry is also quite optimistic of the impending boom and is awaiting the new orders to be generated in the medium term.

Mr. Mohd. Saleh Al Dibsawi of Kitcherama Trading was also of a similar view. “We have increased our local manufacturing capabilities and now manufacture a full range of hot cooking lines in UAE itself. This has benefited the hospitality industry greatly as European technology & quality is now manufactured locally.”

“The Kitchen industry in the Middle East has rapidly evolved” said Mr. Bilal Al Halabi of Al Halabi Kitchen Equipment. “Even ten years ago almost 50% of our orders were supplied with imported equipment, whereas now over 70% is supplied by our own manufacturing facility which has been operational since 1975,” he added.

The Kitchen Equipment exhibition is an important step in creating a dedicated exhibition & platform for our industry especially considering that Expo 2020, Qatar World Cup and other such hospitality driving events in the region, he concluded.

The Kitchen Equipment Technology & Exhibition Middle East is held at Expo Centre Sharjah until Wednesday, 18th December and the timing is from 10 am to 5 pm on the last day.

Emirate:  Sharjah

Date: Dec 17, 2013

Back