MANAMA: Tamkeen has announced the signing of an agreement with the Kempinski Grand and Ixir Hotel in Bahrain.

Under the agreement, Bahraini employees of the hotel will get the benefit of Tamkeen’s career progression programme.

They will be given training in specialised skills to meet the growing demands of the kingdom’s hospitality and tourism sector.

The training is designed based on detailed studies conducted by a dedicated Tamkeen team in co-operation with the beneficiary enterprises to identify skill gaps among their Bahraini employees.

The employees belong to different backgrounds and have job responsibilities, which include concierge, sales and marketing, catering, housekeeping, as well as finance and administration.

“Hospitality and tourism is the fastest growing sector in Bahrain,” Tamkeen’s acting vice-president for human capital development Amal Al Kooheji said.

“Therefore it is absolutely critical that sufficient and capable local talent is available to cope with this growth.”

The hotel’s general manager, Puneet Singh, said they employed a number of gifted Bahrainis and were keen to help them in their career progression in the hospitality field, be they in operations or administration.

“As Europe’s oldest hospitality group we can offer our expertise, guidance and in-depth training to provide opportunities for further progress both within our Bahrain property, as well as globally,” he said.

In addition to training, Tamkeen also subsidises the salaries of the beneficiary employees.

The subsidy amount ranges between BD50 and BD100 for a maximum of two years.

Launched in 2007, the programme has to date served more than 12,000 Bahrainis in more than 500 enterprises across all sectors and industries.