Job advertisement for 'Dubai casino staff' sparks confusion

Marriott Hotels have been forced to deny that they are hiring casino staff for future roles within the UAE after a job vacancy went viral.

An opening for a senior manager in casino operations executions in Dubai was spotted in the job vacancy section of the Reddit Dubai website on Friday, sparking confusion among Reddit users as gambling in the UAE is illegal.

Posted on July 31 the advert was listed under the category of finance and accounting and was linked to a Dubai address.

A thread on Reddit with the job advert attached started ‘Well, well, ahem!’, while a contributor asked in the comments section below: “Does that mean that they will open a casino in Dubai?”

Similar tweets on the subject read: “Looks like casinos are coming to the UAE soon,” with one responding with a gif of a man pointing and shaking his head above the hastag ‘Haraam’, which means ‘forbidden’ in Arabic.

However, a spokesperson from the hotel group was quick to clarify the situation when asked for a comment by Gulf News.

“Marriott International Middle East & Africa regional offices are headquartered in Dubai and from this office we manage a number of disciplines across the entire Middle East & Africa region,” said the spokesperson. “We operate casinos outside of the UAE and currently operate Casino’s in North and South Africa which are managed by the respective regional teams from our regional headquarters.”

Some Reddit and social media users had correctly guessed that this was the case.

One Reddit user said “Could be a regional role,” while another agreed “Everything regional has to come through Dubai.”

Comments on twitter agreed: “It’s a corporate office post and their corporate office here covers Egypt where there’s a ton of casinos.

“The real story on the job post is here,” the commentator added above a picture posted of a close-up of the job advert with the words ‘extensive travel (75 per cent or more)’ circled with a highlighter pen.”