Algeria, Italy & Austria: A Valuable Education in Tourism & Hospitality Management.

I was born Draa Kebila, Wilaya de Setif, Algeria and, at the age of just 14, I moved to one of the biggest cities in Algeria - Setif, to continue my schooling.

After successfully passing my high school examinations, I attended university in Algiers, where I read for a Bachelor's degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management. During my time at university, I created the institute's first newsletter, as well as the specialized tourism magazine, ESCALE, with my fellow students. ESCALE is edited, managed and published by students, and I was honoured to edit the publication for its first four years.

I was also heavily involved in the political activities of the Ministry of Tourism, mainly those related to the organization of tourist events and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Congresses and Events) such as: a range of national and international tourism meetings, and the highly respected International Exhibition of Tourism and Travel (SITEV Algiers).

During my four years of Bachelor studies, I undertook a variety of internships at several hotels in Algiers, as well as in my home town of Setif. These internships helped me to develop the following skills:

  • Reception and concierge skills (front office, back office and reservations).
  • Administration (accounting, sales, housekeeping, F&B, room operations).
  • Database management.
  • Retention and loyalty programmes.
  • Reporting.


After finishing my Bachelor's degree with an excellent grade, I worked as a Sales & Marketing Manager for a travel agent before continuing my education in Italy. Here I attended La Schuola Superiore dell’Universita di Catania and completed my International Masters in the Economics and Administration of Cultural Heritage, achieving the second highest ranking in my group. During this time I also worked as an intern at the SiTI Turin (Higher Institute of Territorial Systems for Innovation) in order to gain more practical knowledge.

It was always my intention to take my education further if I could, and thanks to the Scholarship I received from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, I received a dream placement at Modul University in Vienna. Here I studied for my Master of Business Administration in the Tourism Management degree programme. The course helped build on my previous knowledge and helped open my eyes to many new ways of working within the industry... it also helped to further develop my communication skills and improve my business English.

Following my graduation I took up the position of Marketing Manager for the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. Here I was in charge of:

  • Market analysis for the Arabic and French speaking market.
  • Customer profiles for Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish speaking areas.
  • Junior web design.
  • Follow-up of sales and daily, weekly and monthly reporting.

From there I moved to the Marriott International Group and now work for as a Night Auditor for the Vienna Marriott Hotel as Night Auditor. I especially enjoy front and back office aspects of this role, where I have to:

  • Take decisions independently as on-duty Manager
  • Be in direct contact with the accounts department and executive members of the hotel
  • Be at the hub of all the hotel’s departments (front office, F&B, accounts, administration)
  • Set up the daily, monthly and annual reports,

In addition to this role, I’m also working independently to promote the tourist industry in my home country of Algeria, and actively working on the following projects:

  • Organising tourist and cultural tours for Europeans to a variety of regions and cities in Algeria
  • Consulting and creating audits for numerous travel agencies and hotels, as well as giving advice on management
  • Contributing to the promotion of the Algerian image in Europe,
  • Being an active member in the Austrian-Algerian association, where I’m putting considerable efforts into enhancing the economic, social, cultural and tourist exchanges between these two countries.

My future plans involve offering management classes to tourism students... and joining the Algerian Ministry of Tourism. I am also seeking to work as a Consultant Researcher and affiliated member of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).