Training Barriers in the Middle Eastern Hotel Industry: A Case Study in Saudi Hotels

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Minia University

Abstract

Training in hotels was found to be useful for the development of the human resources through which hotels deliver services to their guests. Training barriers in hotels in Saudi Arabia have not been empirically explored, especially from the perspective of hotel training managers. The purpose of this study is to explore major barriers that training managers in Saudi Arabian hotels are facing and their impact on the training function in the hotels. The study is aimed at identifying causes of these barriers, and effects on the staff performance. A single embedded case study approach was used, which involved unstructured interviews with hotel training managers and document analysis. The case study was conducted in three Saudi Arabian five-star international chained hotels. All three hotels represented units of the single case study as they all belong to the same chain and following the same brand standards. After conducting and analyzing the interviews along with the documents, thirteen issues have been identified throughout all three units of the case study.

Keywords