StartUpArabia

Mohamed Marwen Meddah | November 27, 2008 | View Comments

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In the backdrop of the continuing growth trail and potential of the regional hospitality industry, a new hospitality networking and human resources portal, Hozpitality.com, was launched yesterday by Dubai-based VR Online Group.

Promoters of the new portal said the sector’s rate of growth in job opportunities 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.  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,” said Mr. Raj Bhatt, Director, Hozpitality.com.

He said that the aim of Hozpitality.com was to grow beyond the confines of a conventional portal and to add more value-innovations to its offer portfolio in tandem with the growth and sophistication of the regional hospitality industry.  

“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,” Mr. 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 posting jobs or applying for live jobs. Regular networking events for the hospitality community would also form one of the core activities.

Employers or Job seekers would have free access to focused hospitality supplier listing; registered employers can post any movements, promotions, transfers or post any announcements on the website. The portal would also extend services of professional CV designing to the candidates.

This move comes just a few months after the launch of Travel Yolk (previously reviewed here), that caters to the recruitment needs of the Travel industry, which signals a shift towards more specialized portals in such areas of service.

# Hozpitality.com