From left: Sarah Walker-Kerr, Katerina Dixon, Derryn French, Sarah Omolewu, Vivienne Gan and Shona Mac Sweeney. From left: Sarah Walker-Kerr, Katerina Dixon, Derryn French, Sarah Omolewu, Vivienne Gan and Shona Mac Sweeney.

Getting to know you: Hotelier's Expert Panel

Derryn French
Director of market communications
The Westin and Le Méridien Mina
Seyahi Complex
Derryn French has been working in the hotel business since she was 17, first studying hotel management and then working in F&B, rooms and sales and marketing for various chains. When Derryn moved to Dubai she made the transition into PR, joining Habtoor Grand six years ago. She has been in her current role for more than three years.

Sarah Omolewu
Public relations manager
Raffles Dubai
Sarah Omolewu has more than eight years experience in developing successful strategic marketing and communications campaigns, first in the US and now in the UAE. Prior to moving to Dubai, Omolewu owned Imani CMG, a boutique marketing communications firm where she worked with brands including Delta Airlines and Coca Cola. Specialising in entertainment marketing, she has successfully utilised celebrities to support the marketing communications and CSR campaigns in her role as PR manager at Raffles Dubai.

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Katerina Dixon
Director of marketing communications
InterContinental Hotels Group, Dubai Festival City
Having started her career with above the line and below the line agencies, Katerina Dixon came to Dubai 11 years ago, and started with Jumeirah just after the opening of Emirates Towers. She worked in sales for two years and the joined InterContinental eight and a half years ago, first at the Deira property (now Radisson Blu) and then in her complex role at IHG DFC.

Vivienne Gan
Regional Director of Public Relations, Middle East
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C.
In her regional role, Vivienne Gan looks after six hotels in the Middle East but her primary role is to get Middle East media coverage for Ritz-Carlton’s hotels around the world. She joined Ritz-Carlton in 2000 in Singapore and then moved to Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, following an earlier career as a broadcast journalist in Singapore. Gan looked after the food and travel beat on a breakfast TV show, during which time she dealt a lot with hotel PR, ultimately realising:“I could do what they’re doing and then I went over to the other side and I’ve been there ever since”.

Shona Mac Sweeney
Marketing and communications manager
The Palace – The Old Town
Shona Mac Sweeney started her career in hospitality management with Sun International Hotels in Cape Town and then followed her Irish roots to join Jury’s Doyle in Dublin where she trained in F&B. Mac Sweeney progressed into rooms and guest relations and made her entry into PR six years ago at Le Méridien Dubai. She worked for Starwood for five and a half years and then for an agency for two and half years before taking up her current role at The Palace — The Old Town 10 months ago.

Sarah Walker-Kerr
Director of Public Relations
Armani Hotel Dubai
Sarah Walker-Kerr began her career in aviation, working with British Airways for eight years. She then joined Sun International and helped set up the international marketing office in the UK. After eight years, she moved to the Fleishman Hillard agency, working on accounts such as Kempinski and Etihad Airways, and for the last three years she has been in Abu Dhabi working for one of the private jet operators. Walker-Kerr has now been working at Armani Dubai for two months, having been inspired to get back into the hotel business by coverage of Hotelier Middle East’s Great GM Debate.