Mantoani has been with Hyatt for 17 years, having begun his career as a corporate trainee at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in 1997. He then relocated to Spain, where he was promoted to assistant director of F&B.
Yong, a dynamic and inspiring leader, joins the team with over 15 years of hospitality experience. She has previously served as director of sales and marketing at luxury properties spanning the globe, including in the UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Gaillard has been with InterContinental Hotels Group for 15 years, during which time he has served in various positions in conference and banquet services, food and beverage, and operations management.
Mark Sterner has joined Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi as the property’s new hotel manager, taking over a role previously held by Oliver Bruns.
Ivor Prestwood has joined the team at Intercontinental Abu Dhabi as the new general manager, following the departure of his predecessor Dieter Franke, who has taken over as GM at Intercontinental Nairobi.
Rotana, will add 3,360 rooms to its existing 12,607–strong room count across the region, with a robust development pipeline headlined by 12 new properties, some of which will open before the year end. President and CEO, Omer Kaddouri, shared Rotana's international expansion plans, spotlighting the company's growing presence in countries like Jordan, Turkey and Bahrain – which will soon welcome Rotana's highly-anticipated five-star property– ART Rotana. With a stand-out vision of operating 100 hotels by 2020, Rotana has implemented an aggressive development strategy, starting with the opening of the properties listed below. The new properties will also create a substantial number of employment opportunities and Rotana plans to hire more than 10,500 individuals across the next five years to operate the hotels.
The recovery of the Abu Dhabi hotel market continues to gain momentum with four and five star hotels reporting positive gains in performance levels for the month of September compared to the same period last year. Average room rate (ARR) increased by 4.2% to US$128.96 while occupancy grew by 6.6 percentage points to 76.6%, resulting in revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising 14.0% to US$98.76. Total revenue per available room (TRevPAR) was impacted by decline in beverage revenues of 5.3%, however the strong room performance led to a 9.4% increase over the same period last year to US$219.13. The growth in RevPAR directly impacted gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) which increased by 42.4% to US$47.73.
Prior to his new post, Sharabassy, who joins with 20 years of hospitality experience, served as the cluster manager of eCommerce and revenue operations of Danat Hotels & Resorts. In this position, he was fundamental in brand positioning and instrumental in increasing the revenues of the group for each property through his vast knowledge of revenue operations.
Thomas Guss has taken over as general manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, as well as other properties within its complex, following his predecessor’s decision to depart for a sabbatical. As revealed in a letter published on Hotelier Middle East, Arbind K Shrestha officially left the property, which also includes Traders Hotel, Abu Dhabi, as well as the Shangri-La Residences, at the end of last week after three and a half years in his position.
Park Rotana and Park Arjaan Abu Dhabi have appointed Louana Moulaeb as the new director of marketing & communications and Haya Samain as assistant director of marketing & communications.
Fuchs first joined Jumeirah in 2006, working at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai for three years as director of food and beverage. He re-joined the company in 2010 as hotel manager at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers to assist with the pre-opening of the hotel. Stefan’s previous industry experience spans over 15 years working for well-known brands such as Ritz-Carlton and Kempinski Hotels. His international experience has been gained from working in Europe, the Middle East and Russia where he held senior roles in operations, food and beverage, catering and conference services and his most recent position as hotel manager at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers.
Baum, who previously held the same position at Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, will work alongside general manager Holger Schroth, who has been at Emirates Palace since 2013.
Over a period of 20 years, Ashor has worked with international hotel chains in Egypt, the Netherlands, and Germany, before moving to the UAE six years ago. At Centro Capital Centre, Ashor will lead the operations at the 414-key property. He will also incorporate new initiatives to expand the hotel’s market reach in regional and international markets while aiming for high quality and guest satisfaction levels. The Egyptian-Dutch national holds an undergraduate degree in hotel management and completed an MBA in marketing and communications in the Netherlands.
Abu Dhabi’s Hotel price index (HPI) decreased from 90.6 in May 2014 to 80.1 in June 2014, a decrease of 11.5 per cent, according to Statistics Centre- Abu Dhabi (SCAD). In its report, which provides an analysis of the hotel establishments price index during the month of June 2014 compared with May 2014 and the same period of 2013, SCAD said the HPI decreased by 3.8 per cent year-on-year, from 83.3 in June 2013 to 80.1 in June 2014.
The Abu Dhabi hotel market continued to grow from strength to strength, as strong top-line performance elevated profitability levels in the first six months of 2014, according to the latest HotStats survey of full service hotels in five MENA cities commented on by TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East.
After record occupancy levels in the first five months of the year, hotels in Abu Dhabi are expecting a bit lower occupancy in holy month of Ramadan. The number of hotel guests checking into Abu Dhabi’s 155 hotels and hotel apartments reached a five-month high from January to May this year with occupancy touching 78 per cent — an eight per cent lift on the same period in 2013.
Chadi joins his new team from Khalidiya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana, Abu Dhabi, where he served as Executive Assistant Manager, coordinating the hotel’s various functions and activities with the General Manager, regional staff and corporate personnel.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and Emirates Pearl for Development & Investment L.L.C. (EPDI) announced today an agreement between a Hyatt affiliate and Emirates Pearl for the management of a Grand Hyatt hotel in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to open in 2015. Emirates Pearl for Development & Investment is a joint venture between a subsidiary of Atlas Group and Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). TDIC is a master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential destinations in Abu Dhabi.
Continuing its exponential growth, Abu Dhabi based Cristal Hotels & Resorts under the Cristal group aims to triple its portfolio within two years. The group has an aggressive target of 13 hotels in the Middle East by 2016 and 50 properties within five years – thus doubling its previous goal of 25 hotels.
Bana Toukan has joined the team at Hyatt Capital Gate as the new director of sales and marketing.