Tourism Recruitment in Africa & the Middle East

Why this matters now

Cape Town, South Africa – a popular tourism destination benefiting from the travel rebound. International travel has not only fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels but actually exceeded them in 2024, with international tourist arrivals reaching 1.5 billion (slightly above 2019’s total). This momentum has carried into 2025: in the first half of 2025, global tourist arrivals rose about 5% year-on. Africa is leading the growth, recording the strongest regional surge – arrivals were up 12% in Africa in H1 2025, including a 14% jump in North Africa and 11% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Visitor spending has also been robust on the continent, reflecting pent-up demand and new air routes opening up African destinations.

Dubai, UAE – Gulf destinations are experiencing record tourism volumes. The Middle East remains a standout region in the tourism rebound. The UAE’s hospitality sector hit record highs in 2024 – national hotel occupancy averaged about 78%, with roughly 30.7 million guests staying in UAE hotels (a 9.5% increase over 2023). Dubai alone set a new record with 18.72 million international visitors in 2024, and a citywide hotel occupancy of 78.2% for the year (the highest ever recorded for Dubai). This momentum continued into 2025, with Dubai logging 8.68 million visitors in Jan–May 2025 (+7% vs. 2024) and an average 83% hotel occupancy in that period. Saudi Arabia, for its part, is investing massively in new tourism projects under Vision 2030 – the Kingdom’s Travel & Tourism sector is on track to contribute over 10% of GDP in 2025 with ~2.7 million jobs (an all-time high). KSA has set an ambitious goal of attracting 150 million visitors annually by 2030, up from virtually zero leisure tourists just a few years ago – a sign of how dramatically the landscape is changing.

Fast facts (2024–2025) (FROM online sources)

Global tourism revenues: International tourism export revenues hit a record ~US$2.0 trillion in 2024 hotel-online.com, roughly 15% above pre-pandemic levels. This reflects higher spend per trip and the full return of international travel demand.
Africa momentum: Africa’s tourism is outpacing other regions. Q1 2025 saw Africa’s international arrivals up 9% vs. Q1 2024, accelerating to +12% for the first half of 2025hotel-online.com moodiedavittreport.com. Both North and Sub-Saharan Africa are surging, buoyed by regional travel and returning long-haul visitors.
UAE (2024): The UAE achieved ~75–78% nationwide hotel occupancy (among the highest globally) with 30.75 million hotel guests in 2024, a 9.5% YoY increasewam.ae. Revenues from hotel stays climbed to nearly AED 45 billion (∼US$12.25 billion) as the Emirates hosted more tourists than ever.
Dubai (2024): Dubai welcomed 18.72 million international overnight visitors in 2024 (a new record, +9% vs 2023) and reached an average 78.2% hotel occupancy – the highest in its historybrecorder.com brecorder.com. Occupied room-nights in Dubai hit 43 million in 2024, underscoring the city’s capacity growth and strong events calendar.
Saudi Arabia: Sector employment in Saudi tourism is projected around 2.7 million jobs and climbing, with Travel & Tourism poised to exceed 10% of GDP by 2025wttc.org. Saudi Arabia is targeting 150 million domestic and international visitors by 2030blogs.worldbank.org, investing in giga-projects (NEOM, Red Sea, Diriyah, etc.) to become a top global destination.
Morocco: North Africa’s boom – Morocco received 17.4 million tourists in 2024, a record high and +20% vs 2023reuters.com. The country aims to attract 26 million visitors by 2030reuters.com, when it will co-host the FIFA World Cup – an effort driving significant hiring across hotels, resorts, and tour operators.

Bottom line: Tourism demand is up, pipelines are robust, but talent capacity has become the critical bottleneck. Hospitality operators report that the real crisis isn’t finding guests – it’s finding staff. In fact, luxury lodges and hotels in Southern Africa note that talent supply, not guest demand, is now their biggest challenge. The same story echoes in the Middle East. In other words, the surge in travel has outstripped the available skilled workforce, especially in key operational, guest-facing, revenue-management, and digital roles.

Where the talent crunch is tightest

With travel and hotel occupancy rebounding, hospitality employers are facing acute skills shortages in several areas. Some of the roles and functions with the tightest talent crunch include:

Hotel operations & F&B: General Managers, Operations Directors, Executive Chefs and Pastry Chefs, F&B Directors, as well as Front Office and Rooms Division managers. These leadership roles are essential to maintaining service standards as properties fill up, yet experienced candidates are in short supply across many markets.
Revenue & commercial: Revenue Managers/Directors, Distribution and Channel Managers, Digital Marketing Managers, and Directors of Sales (for segments like MICE, leisure, corporate). With the emphasis on maximizing yield and capturing demand, hotels need analytics-savvy commercial talent – a skill set that is highly competitive to hire.
Destination attractions & experiences: Theme park operations managers, experience designers (for curated guest experiences), sustainability/ESG managers, and guest analytics specialists. As new attractions and integrated resorts come online (especially in the UAE and KSA), operators are scrambling to find professionals who can design and run world-class experiences.
Luxury & lifestyle services: Highly specialized service roles such as head butlers, wellness/spa directors, and chef concierges for high-net-worth and VIP clientele – particularly across the GCC’s ultra-luxury resorts and city hotels. These roles demand a blend of impeccable soft skills, language abilities, and cultural knowledge that few candidates possess.
Multi-property & pre-opening teams: Cluster-level leaders and task force experts who can manage rapid expansions or new hotel openings. This includes project managers for hotel openings, HR business partners and talent acquisition leads for ramp-ups, and pre-opening task force consultants. With many new properties slated to open in 2024–2026, the region faces a shortage of veterans who have opened hotels at scale.

It’s telling that even as new hospitality markets open up (from Namibian safari lodges to beach resorts in Madagascar) and established markets expand (Kenya’s record safari numbers, Morocco’s new hotels, South Africa’s recovering tourism), the talent pool has not kept up. In Africa, employers in remote or emerging destinations struggle to lure experienced managers willing to relocate. In the Middle East, massive projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are competing for the same talent, creating a bidding war for skilled hospitality professionals. Senior chefs, revenue managers, and customer experience directors can now choose between multiple offers – and often get poached by the highest bidder. All of this makes strategic recruitment and talent development more important than ever.

How Copper Quail helps you hire – faster, better, at scale

Copper Quail is uniquely positioned to address these talent gaps with speed and precision. We have a dedicated Hospitality & Tourism practice focused on Africa and the Middle East, and we’ve built our approach to solve exactly the challenges mentioned above. Here’s how we deliver:

Our Hospitality & Tourism Expert Team

Specialist recruiters with hospitality backgrounds: Our recruitment team isn’t made up of generalists – we have former hoteliers, resort managers, chefs, and tour operators on staff. They have hands-on industry experience across hotels, resorts, branded residences, tour operators/DMCs, and attractions, which means they understand the skills and service mindset needed for each role. (They’ve walked in the shoes of an F&B manager or a front desk supervisor before interviewing one.)
Dual-market coverage (Africa + Middle East): We maintain deep networks of candidates across Africa (North Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West & Central Africa, and Indian Ocean markets) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait). This dual focus allows us to tap into a broad talent pool and even facilitate cross-regional moves – for example, relocating an Arabic/French speaking Moroccan manager to a property in the UAE, or vice-versa. We have bilingual talent on our radar (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese) and understand the nuances of each local labor market.
Speed + fit: In this fast-moving recovery, speed is crucial – but so is hiring the right people. Copper Quail leverages an always-on pipeline to produce shortlists within days for priority hires (in many cases 5–7 business days for mid-level roles). Every candidate we submit has been pre-screened through rigorous interviews, had their references checked, and is evaluated not just for technical competence but for cultural and service fit with your brand. This means you can hire quickly with confidence. Many of our placements are made in a fraction of the time it would take via traditional channels, reducing vacancy costs at your operation.

What sets us apart

Sector-dedicated vertical: Unlike generalist agencies, we don’t treat Hospitality & Tourism as a sideline – it’s one of Copper Quail’s core specialties. Our consultants devote 100% of their time to tracking hospitality industry trends, talent moves, and client needs in this space. That specialization translates into richer candidate networks and market intel for our clients.
Regional talent pipelines: We actively build and maintain talent pipelines across EMEA, giving clients access to candidates who aren’t on job boards. Whether it’s Arabic-speaking F&B managers for GCC hotels, French-speaking lodge managers for Francophone Africa, or game lodge guides for East Africa, we likely know them or can reach them. We also focus on “relocation-ready” talent – people open to opportunities in new countries – to widen the candidate pool for hard-to-fill locations.
Build-outs & pre-openings expertise: Copper Quail has playbooks for large-scale hiring projects, such as new hotel openings or multi-property expansions. We know how to source en masse (e.g. hiring 50+ staff for a resort opening), run assessment centers and mass interview days, and even coordinate with training partners for pre-opening training. From crafting an employer brand (EVP) that attracts candidates, to organizing travel for candidates to attend hiring fairs, we’ve done it. This is especially valuable for clients planning rapid roll-outs or entering new markets with multiple properties.
Data-driven search & advisory: Our approach is underpinned by data. At the start of each search we provide market mapping – e.g. a list of target companies and talent, availability of candidates, typical salary bands, and even competitor hiring activity. This helps you make informed decisions (like adjusting a salary offer to secure a candidate) and de-risk the hiring timeline. We can quickly advise if a certain skill is scarce and suggest alternatives or interim solutions, rather than you discovering it too late.
Cross-border hiring & compliance: Thanks to our sister company Africa Deployments (an Employer-of-Record service), we offer a unique solution for cross-border hires. If you need to hire talent in a country where you lack a legal entity or for a short-term project, we can legally employ and payroll the person on your behalf. This means you remain fully compliant with local labor laws and tax, without the headache of setting up a local office. It’s ideal for seasonal hires (e.g. bringing in experienced European ski resort staff to a Moroccan Atlas Mountains resort for a winter season) or testing a new market. We handle work permits, payroll, and HR admin through Africa Deployments, so you can focus on the operation.

Use cases we deliver

To illustrate how we work, here are a few sample scenarios where Copper Quail delivered results:

Saudi resort cluster – pre-opening team build: A client in Saudi Arabia was launching a cluster of new resorts in the Red Sea region, with aggressive timelines aligned to Vision 2030. Copper Quail deployed a taskforce recruitment model to hire 40+ pre-opening team members across operations, culinary, housekeeping, and spa departments. We phased leadership onboarding to coincide with each property’s construction schedule, ensuring GMs and department heads were in place to hire their teams. By opening date, all critical roles were filled with experienced talent (many of whom we relocated from abroad), supporting Saudi’s growth targets in luxury hospitality.
UAE city hotels – commercial team reboot: A portfolio of upscale city hotels in the UAE needed to strengthen their commercial teams to capitalize on the post-pandemic demand surge. Occupancies were hitting record levelswam.ae, so the group engaged us to recruit key revenue-generating roles. Copper Quail delivered a Revenue Director, a Digital Marketing Manager, and several Sales Directors (MICE and corporate) in a matter of weeks. These hires allowed the hotels to quickly implement new pricing strategies, partnerships, and marketing campaigns to maximize RevPAR and guest spend. The result: within one quarter, the properties saw measurable uplift in direct bookings and event pipeline, validating the impact of getting the right commercial talent in seat fast.
East Africa safari lodges – multi-site staffing: An eco-safari operator with boutique lodges across Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda engaged Copper Quail to fill multiple leadership roles. The challenge: the lodges are in remote bush locations with rotational schedules (on for 8 weeks, off for 2 weeks, etc.), requiring very resilient and passionate staff. We tapped our network of safari lodge professionals and placed General Managers, Executive Chefs, and Guest Experience Managers for four different lodges. We also advised on rotational roster structuring and sourced an HR support consultant to assist the client’s teams on the ground. The new hires have improved guest feedback scores and brought international best practices (from South African and Zimbabwean lodge circuits) to these East African properties.
Morocco growth corridor – scaling up for record tourism: Off the back of Morocco’s record tourist arrivals in 2024, a global hotel brand needed to ramp up leadership for several hotels in Morocco’s key cities and resort areas. Copper Quail stepped in to recruit French- and Arabic-speaking F&B Directors, Front Office Managers, and Rooms Division Managers who could elevate service standards for the influx of visitors. We targeted Moroccan talent abroad (in Europe and the Gulf) as well as local rising stars. With Morocco expecting 26 million tourists by 2030 and preparing to co-host the 2030 World Cup, these hires are future-proofing the client’s operations. In fact, one of our placed F&B Directors is now leading a task force preparing his hotel for a major international event next year – illustrating how the right talent can have a multiplier effect on readiness.

Hiring models to match your plan

We understand that different hiring needs call for different approaches. Copper Quail offers flexible engagement models tailored to your situation:

Retained Executive Search: Best for senior leadership and critical impact hires (e.g. CEO/COO, General Manager for a flagship property, etc.). In a retained search, we operate as an extension of your team, with a dedicated consultant who maps the market, approaches candidates confidentially, and manages a thorough selection process. This model provides full coverage and commitment until the hire is made (with replacement guarantees), and often includes detailed candidate reports and psychometric assessments.
Project hiring squads: Ideal for pre-openings or rapid expansions when you need to fill a large number of roles within a fixed timeline. We can deploy a team of recruiters focused on your project exclusively. For example, if you’re opening a new resort, we can run on-site assessment days to hire en masse (from line staff to supervisors) and even help coordinate training onboarding in partnership with your HR. This project-based approach is highly efficient for bulk recruitment – we essentially act as your internal hiring taskforce for the duration of the project.
Contingent/Contract staffing: For seasonal peaks, events, or interim gaps, we maintain a pool of contract professionals. Perhaps you need 20 extra waitstaff and bartenders for a festival, or an interim chef for three months – we can quickly provide vetted contract workers or interim managers. They remain on Copper Quail’s payroll (or our EoR’s payroll), but work under your direction. This gives you flexibility to scale staff up or down without long-term commitments, while ensuring they are legally employed and insured.
Employer of Record (EoR) & International Payroll: When expanding to a new country (or hiring remote teams) where you don’t have a local entity, our Africa Deployments service comes into play. We become the Employer of Record for the staff – handling all local registrations, contracts, tax withholdings, and payroll – while the staff work for you. You avoid the cost and time of setting up a legal entity just to hire one or two people. This model is also useful for pilot programs (e.g. testing a safari experience in a new country with a small team) or for complying with local labor laws in various African jurisdictions.

Practical steps to start

Engaging with Copper Quail is straightforward and consultative. A typical recruitment partnership with us would follow these steps:

Initial briefing workshop (45–60 min): We kick off with a detailed discussion to understand your needs – the roles required, your company culture, organizational structure, timeline for hiring, and any specifics like language skills or work permit considerations. We’ll also discuss compensation ranges and benefits to ensure we target the right level of candidates. This can be a video call with hiring managers and HR present.
Market mapping within 72 hours: Within three business days after the briefing, our team presents a market map for the role(s). This includes a list of target companies (competitors or analogous businesses) to source from, sample candidate profiles available in the market, and salary benchmarks. For example, we might show that for a Safari Camp General Manager role, the talent pool might be X number of candidates currently in Botswana, Kenya, etc., with salary range $Y–Z. This early insight lets you refine the brief if needed and aligns expectations.
Shortlist in 7–10 working days: We typically deliver an initial shortlist of candidates within 1 to 2 weeks for most priority positions. These are candidates we have screened and are interested/available. For an executive level search or highly niche role, the timeline is agreed on a case-by-case basis (often ~4–6 weeks for C-suite searches due to the depth of headhunting required). Throughout the process, we keep you updated weekly on search progress.
Structured interviews & assessments: We coordinate the interview process according to your preference – whether it’s arranging back-to-back in-person interviews, video interviews across time zones, or even working trials for chefs etc. We help design these assessments to be relevant. For instance, we’ve set up tasting sessions for chef candidates, or scenario role-plays for front-office manager candidates (to see how they handle guest issues). We also advise on what to look for (competencies, red flags) and can sit in as an observer if you wish. Our goal is to ensure the process fairly tests for the service standards and cultural fit that matter to you.
Onboarding and retention support: After you select a candidate, we remain a partner in ensuring a smooth onboarding. We can assist with offer negotiation, resignation handling, and if it’s a cross-border hire, we provide support on relocation and work permit logistics. Uniquely, we provide a 90-day success plan template – essentially a guide for the hiring manager and new hire to align on goals and check-ins in the first three months. We also check in with both client and candidate at regular intervals (e.g. 30 days, 60 days, 90 days) to help iron out any early issues. This extra care significantly improves retention and performance in that crucial first year.

FAQs

Q: Where can Copper Quail hire for us?

A: We can hire across Africa and the Middle East – this includes key markets like South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and more. In fact, we’ve placed candidates in over 20 countries. We also have global reach for specialist talent; for example, if you need a German-speaking General Manager for a lodge in Rwanda, or an Asia-trained wellness chef for a resort in Oman, we can source internationally. For deploying staff into countries where you don’t have a local entity, we use our Africa Deployments EoR service to handle local employment compliance on your behalf. In short, our geographic coverage is wherever the talent is and wherever you need them.

Q: How do you ensure candidates fit our service culture?

A: We take cultural and service fit extremely seriously. Beyond evaluating the technical skills, we incorporate behavioral interviews and practical assignments. For example, we might ask a candidate to role-play a scenario handling an unhappy VIP guest, or to present a brief business plan on how they’d boost F&B revenue – whatever suits the role. We also tailor questions to your brand values (if your brand emphasizes, say, “surprising the guest,” we’ll ask candidates how they’ve gone above and beyond for a guest in the past). Additionally, we insist on taking detailed references from former supervisors focusing on service attitude and team leadership style. By doing all this, we significantly increase the likelihood that the hired candidate will “live the brand” and uphold your service standards. We often hear from clients that our candidates feel like a natural extension of their team culture – that’s our aim.

Q: Can you support mass hiring for peak seasons or new openings?

A: Yes, absolutely. We have dedicated strategies for bulk recruitment. For peak season ramp-ups, we can help you source seasonal workers (chefs, waitstaff, front desk agents, etc.) on contract. We handle the recruitment and, if needed, the employment via our EoR platform, so you can bring in 30 extra staff for a few months, for example, without long-term paperwork. For new openings, we often create a customized project plan – this can involve advertising campaigns, job fairs or open days, and multi-round assessments. We have run mass interview days where 100+ candidates are processed in one go (with group activities, individual interviews, and on-the-spot offers for the best). We also understand the timeline of pre-openings: hiring your core management first, then supervisory layer, then bulk frontline hiring closer to opening. We can manage each wave in coordination with your timeline. Finally, multilingual capability on our team means we can interview candidates in their language (French, Arabic, Portuguese, etc.), which is invaluable when hiring mass roles in countries like Morocco or Mozambique. In sum, we become your volume hiring partner to make sure you open on schedule with a full team onboard.

Final word

Travel and tourism in Africa and the Middle East are on a historic upswing. Visitor arrivals and revenues are setting new records – from North African beaches to Gulf mega-cities – and governments are pouring investment into the sector’s growth. The opportunity for operators is enormous, but so is the challenge: in this boom, the competitive edge will go to those who can staff up quickly and effectively. It’s not just about warm bodies in positions, but having people who can deliver memorable guest experiences and uphold brand standards from day one. Copper Quail’s Hospitality & Tourism recruitment expertise gives you that edge. We offer the regional reach, speed, and cultural savvy to find the talent you need – whether it’s opening a five-star resort in Zanzibar or ramping up a theme park in Riyadh – and to do it in a compliant, low-friction way. In a market where talent is the new battleground, let us help you build the high-performing teams that will keep your guests coming back and fuel your growth.

Contact Copper Quail Global

Ready to build high-performing hospitality teams across Africa and the Middle East?

We’re here to help. Get in touch with Copper Quail to discuss your hiring needs and expansion plans