Kirti Anchan

General Manager of Jumeirah Emirates Towers

Kirti Anchan is a luxury hotel management professional with a track record of success during roles for the world-renowned Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah Hotel, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray and Jumeirah Emirates Towers. He brings over 15 years’ experience at leadership level and a broad skill set that includes expertise across all departments. His career to date features various promotions that reflect his professional capabilities and dedication to customer satisfaction.

David Allan

Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Canal Views, Radisson Resort RAK

Born in Scotland, David started his career with the Radisson Hotel Group at Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow, progressing from food and beverage manager to the role of deputy general manager. He has taken the lead for pre-opening the two five-star hotels located in Business Bay. Highly respected in the industry, David received the General Manager Excellence recognition at the Scottish Hotel Awards in 2013 and was named GM Leader of the Year at the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2016.

Rania Roufael

Group HR Director at Sunset Hospitality Group

Rania brings more than 12 years of experience to the role with a diverse human resource and leadership background. She joined Sunset Hospitality Group in 2018 as Group HR Director and since then has created innovative recruitment and retention strategies, improved employees' training, development, and performance management across the Group's 26 lifestyle and hospitality brands. In 2021, Sunset Hospitality Group received the Great Place to Work® certification, the global authority on high-trust and high-performance workplace cultures.

Giacomo Puntel

Resort Manager - Anantara World Islands

For the last 6 years Giacomo Puntel has managed to deliver consistent profitability through leading by example and always pushing the boundaries to achieve the impossible. In 2021 he won the prestigious title of General Manager of the year in the Leaders in F&B Awards. Giacomo has over 26 years of experience in the industry and is known for creating and retaining high luxury service standards that satisfy guests. He has been Inspired by his passion for wines and food from the start of his career, and his style demonstrates an emphasis and focus on ensuring his team and his customers are always satisfied.

Hakan Ozel

General Manager at Shangri-La Hotel

Hakan has over 20 years of luxury hospitality experience at signature hotels and mixed-used properties in prime locations with track-record achievements that covers: operating, benchmark openings, partial and full renovations, refurbishments, variety of improvement projects, take-over, rebranding and particularly turn-around assignments. He is known for driving strong financial planning and taking bold risks and strongly believes in cultural and motivational programs for colleagues.

Adib Moukheiber

General Manager of Zaya Nurai Island

Adib joined Zaya Nurai Island, Abu Dhabi in 2016 as the General Manager prior to this he was the Director of Sales for the Middle East and GCC at Hotel President Wilson (Starwood Luxury Collection) Geneva, Switzerland.

Mohamed Karam

Senior Business Development Manager, InSinkErator MEA for Emerson

Mohamed has over 23 years of experience working as an expert and proficient brand builder across key industry verticals that offer multiple solutions to meet consumer’s needs. His exposure to various international market segments has allowed him to be more aware of various cultures, an advantage in communicating more effectively with stakeholders, partners, and consumers. Throughout his career sustainability was always his core focus and his motivation is to make our world a better place for us and for generations to come.

Peter Schatzberg

Founder and CEO of Sweetheart Kitchen

Peter is the pioneer of virtual kitchens by launching rapidly evolving iterations of his business model on three different continents since creating the first “delivery only” multi-brand virtual kitchen (Green Summit Group) in 2013 in New York City. Most recently, Schatzberg started Sweetheart Kitchen (bySWHK) and his executive team comes from companies including Emirates, Careem, Nestle, GE Oil & Gas, and Moodys and has ambitious plans to scale bySWHK to several hundred across the Middle East and Asia. The company has raised over $34 million from strategic investors in the food industry.

Mohamed Al Fayed

Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder – GrubTech

Mohamed Al Fayed is a tech disruptor, global entrepreneur, digital advisor, visionary, mentor, and CEO and co-founder of GrubTech, one of the UAE’s fastest-growing tech startups that enables cloud kitchens and restaurants to successfully manage end-to-end operations using state-of-the-art digital tools and capabilities. Under Moe’s leadership, GrubTech’s client portfolio has grown rapidly to span fifteen countries, managing millions worth of food orders for large organisations like Delivery Hero’s Talabat (including Expo 2020), and other international food chains like California Pizza Kitchen, Dunkin Donuts and Paul’s.

Naim Maadad

Chief Executive & Founder - Gates Hospitality

Naim has over 39 years of experience in the hospitality world across Australia, Asia, & the Middle East in various senior management roles. He’s launched and operated some of the world’s best Hotels, Resorts, Spas & Lifestyle Food & Beverage Concepts has been fortunate to partake and orchestrate several amazing openings and operations. Being based in the Middle East for the past 20 years, Naim has witnessed tremendous industry growth, gained a deep cultural understanding and has been endorsed by principals and organisations alike.

Seymone Moodley

Editor in Chief - Hotel & Catering News Middle East

Seymone is a qualified Journalist from South Africa with extensive experience in social media marketing. Before joining Hotel & Catering News Middle East as the Editor In Chief, she covered the news for the BBC, CNBC Africa, Forbes Africa, and Forbes Woman Africa magazine. She was recognised at the Sanlam Excellence in Financial Journalism Awards for her investigative aviation print story and her gamification television story. Seymone has been telling stories and creating content for a decade now and is just getting started.

Ulrich Hoffmeister

General Manager, Jumeira Rotana and BurJuman Arjaan

Ulrich Hoffmeister, a native German with over 20 years of hospitality experience with Rotana Hotels, Hilton Worldwide, Rosewood, Sheraton and InterContinental Hotels. He currently holds the position of Cluster General Manager for BurJuman Arjaan by Rotana and Jumeira Rotana. At the same time, he is assisting the leadership team of Bosmal Arjaan by Rotana in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hezegovina.

Joe Frem

Vice President Cloud Kitchens talabat

Shaping up the food and beverage industry by developing the cloud kitchen segment with focus on new concepts, Joe is the Vice President of Cloud Kitchen and Concepts at talabat. Previously, a restaurateur with deep experience in the construction industry and prior experience at McKinsey that focuses on cities, infrastructure, transport and economic development.

David Harb

General Manager Hyatt Regency Dubai, and Galleria

David brings more than 25 years of experience to his role; his cross-cultural understanding was enhanced through his diverse experience having worked in North America and the Middle East. He began his ‘Hyatt career’ in the US at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Louisiana in 2002. He spent 10 years in North America managing Food & Beverage operations for several properties across 5 states including an assignment supporting the Corporate office opening hotels and Food & Beverage outlets.

Mansour Memarian

Hotel Manager, Palazzo Versace Dubai

Mansour Memarian, an Iranian chef with German origins has 25 years industry experience with stints at some of the world’s best restaurants. He earned his first Michelin star in 2006, at Jagdhof Glashütte in Germany, in just eight months as Head Chef. In 2008, he was named the “Best International Chef” in Austria and his cookbook “Gourmet Raffinessen” was voted Best Cookbook in the same country. Chef Mansour Memarian oversees Palazzo Versace Dubai’s five-star hotel culinary and F&B operations including its six restaurants and two bars, as well as the catering services in his current role as Hotel Manager.

Jareer Oweimrin

Co-founder, Fluidmeet

Jareer is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Fluidmeet. He has worked in entrepreneurial environments throughout his professional career. After leading the new market business development in Bahrain for a large transnational pharmaceutical company he established his own entrepreneurial ventures. Jareer has also served as a management advisor for an entrepreneurial consulting firm that worked with Government organisations, Government-related entities, and private companies. He has experience managing various large-scale consulting projects and large teams.

Tamara Salha

General Manager of Crowne Plaza Dubai Marina

With over 22 years of experience in the hospitality sector, General Manager of Crowne Plaza Dubai Marina, Tamara Salha has vast knowledge & experience in managing teams all whilst inspiring and engaging them onto further growth. Tamara’s strong analytical and planning skills, combined with the ability to coordinate the efforts of many to meet organizational goals has enabled her to ensure smooth running and staller performance of the property.

Sultan Hassan Mohammed Almteiri

Director, Business Stakeholders and Government Relations, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing

As Director, Business Stakeholders and Government Relations at Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), Sultan Hassan Mohammed Almteiri serves as the key interface between Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and its network of stakeholders and partners in the government and private sectors in Dubai, with a focus on ensuring continuous collaboration to foster growth across the business and tourism sectors.

Having worked in the sales and marketing field for 15 years, Sultan has a wealth of experience in strategy, communications and business development. Prior to joining DET, Sultan was Director Commercial, Royal Jet Group – Abu Dhabi, providing strategic direction and generating and managing the revenue and profit targets through the company’s UAE-based sales force. He had previously worked as the Project Manager – Engagement Department, Minister of State Office (Emirates Competitiveness Council).

Sultan is particularly credited for his valuable contribution towards initiating and building on the dialogue between DET and partners during the unprecedented global challenge and securing their support to help Dubai remain a safe, open and accessible destination. As part of his responsibility to establish relationships with public and private sector entities, Sultan also oversees planning and implementation of regular engagements with stakeholders including the ‘City Briefing’, a bi-annual event of DET that provides partners with updates and an overview of the tourism industry in Dubai.

Luciano Fontana

General Manager Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk

Having started his career 11 years ago with Accor as the Hotel Manager at Sofitel Arroyo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Luciano has acquired an extensive experience and knowledge in the luxury hospitality industry while getting a taste for the hotelier life. He efficiently managed the operations for two Sofitel hotels in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After taking on the role of General Manager at Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco & Spa, Montevideo, Uruguay, Luciano shifted to the Middle East and joined Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche and now Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk.