Samer AbiadMövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate Dubai has appointed Samer Abiad to the role of food & beverage director. Lebanese national Abiad has worked across five-star hotels in the UAE and the wider GCC including La Vendome InterContinental Hotel, Beirut; Beach Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi; Shangri-La, Traders Hotel, Dubai; and Jood Palace Hotel (formerly known as Taj Palace Hotel). He joined Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate from Dubai’s Grand Millennium Hotel, where he oversaw the operation of eight F&B outlets and seven meeting and conference venues. Abiad gained a Hospitality Management Diploma from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Michigan, in 2000, going on to attain a qualification in Strategic Hospitality Management from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Ithica, New York, in 2008. The F&B director has grown through the ranks, moving from head waiter, through to restaurant manager and assistant director of catering and conferences, before working as director of F&B in his last three roles. Abiad’s responsibilities include looking after the seven F&B outlets as well as the conference and banqueting facilities at Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate.