Our biggest presence (in the region) is in Saudi Arabia, where we have 11 operating hotels. We have 33 hotels in the pipeline. We’re very optimistic about what’s going on in Saudi Arabia.

cent of economic activity in Saudi Arabia. In order to do that, and in order for travel and tourism to play that kind of role, you need to have the right people and have them trained in the right way,” he said.

He advised young people to start at the bottom in their bid to scale new heights, citing his own example.

“My first job in the hotel business was plunging toilets in a Holiday Inn in Washington, because I told my father I was interested in getting into business. He said I had to start at the bottom, so I did. Now I run one of the largest companies in the world,” he said.

“My own experience shows the tremendous opportunity and growth there is in the industry, as well as how much upward mobility there is.”

He lamented that few young people are aware of the growth opportunities the industry offers. “You’d be surprised how many young people don’t really understand this, so part of our job is making sure they’re aware of the opportunities. The second part is preparing them with the basic skills. In some cases, they don’t have the skills needed to become contributing team members,” he said.

“This is why the Passport to Success (PTS) program has been so instrumental in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world. We use it as a basic way to get young people to prepare to work for us, and ultimately we employ many of them. We’re not perfect, but we do a wonderful job in developing people and giving them opportunities for growth. That’s why people stick with us.

“We’re opening, on average, one hotel a day in the world. That means opportunities for young Saudis and other young people. We need people who are motivated and inspired to serve other people.”

He said employing women is “really important” for Hilton. “We’re in business to serve our customer base. That base is large and diverse, and a large component of it is female. For us to succeed in serving that part of our customer base, we have to have a team that illustrates gender diversity. Around the world, nearly half of our team member base is female.”

He said Saudi Arabia has all the ingredients of an ideal tourist destination. “The key to being successful in travel and tourism is to make sure you have a safe environment. People generally don’t travel to places where they don’t feel safe, and Saudi Arabia has done a good job in making them feel safe,” he said.

“The next thing is making sure you have, and can protect, destinations that people want to see and visit. Saudi Arabia has the destinations, so the next thing is marketing. This is where we can help as a result of having some much-needed infrastructure.”

Nassetta repeatedly spoke of the role his parents, especially his