Five tech wizards compete for Hotelier's IT Award

The nominees for IT Manager of the Year 2011, sponsored by IDS, in the Hotelier Middle East Awards have been whittled down to just five contestants, whose names we can exclusively reveal today. 

IT personnel work within one of the most changeable sectors of the hotel business; the fast rate of technology development means these experts have to constantly analyse the capability of existing programmes against the potential of investment in new systems.

Supporting both guests and colleagues, they are expected to provide superior customer service as well as reducing the cost of the operation and increasing the efficiency of hotel staff.

They are also in charge of providing solutions to the ever-contentious issue of internet offering; all hotels must provide it, but can the IT manager afford to do so for free? We suspect our top five have the answer…

But before we reveal their names, click here if you'd like more information about the judging process. For booking tables at the awards ceremony taking place on October 19 at Madinat Jumeirah Dubai, please email annie.chinoy@itp.com. Sponsorship enquiries can be sent to dom@itp.com 

Click through to the following five pages for the names of our top IT managers in 2011: 

Chander Raina, IT/systems manager, Wyndham Grand Regency Doha

Prasanna Rupasinghe, director of Information technology, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

Sajid Kazi, information systems manager, Hilton Kuwait Resort

Syed Taha Mustafa, IT manager, InterContinental Riyadh