Hilton group drives fight against youth unemployment
SANDTON - YOUNG South Africans have aspirations and are encouraged to take advantage of a multitude of career opportunities available to them.
This was the message from Hilton Worldwide’s vice president of operations: Africa and Indian Ocean, Jan van der Putten, at the group’s annual Careers@Hiltonlive showcase.
Van der Putten addressed young people and expressed the hope that they would make use of the many career opportunities extended to them.
“Having the experience that I have, I have become a firm believer in making things happen yourself,” he said.
He added that the main purpose of the event was to introduce young people to the operations of the hotel industry through the company’s Travel with a Purpose initiative. This aims to create unique working cultures at the various Hilton Hotel groups around the world.
“Our company is determined to open doors for one million people [work opportunities] by 2019, and we hope to do so through the various sectors within our group.”
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa said government was hoping to create more than 200 000 employment opportunities in the country’s hotel industry over the next four years.
“It’s important for us to do this because we want to see young people make valuable contributions to society,” she said.
Xasa also stressed how important tourism was to the country.
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