Kevin Wallace Kevin Wallace

10 Kevin Wallace
President and CEO, Jebel Ali International Hotels

Having recently relocated from Asia to the Middle East, Kevin Wallace took up the position of president and CEO of Jebel Ali International Hotels (JAIH) on October 1, 2011. He also holds the title of general manager, hospitality investment and development at Dutco Group, JAIH’s parent company.

A 25-year hotel industry veteran, Wallace was previously president of Centara International Management, one of the largest resort management companies in the world, where he orchestrated the growth of the company four fold over a three-year period and from Thailand alone to 10 countries.

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Prior to that he was president and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide’s NorthCourse Leisure Real Estate Solutions, president and CEO of Grand Circle Cruise Lines and president and CFO of Mirage Resorts and Hotels.

This experience alone provides some explanation as to why Wallace is one to watch in his new role; JAIH is embarking on an ambitious overseas expansion plan and Wallace is the man credited with a host of new signings — with plenty more expected.

Just as he took Centara beyond Thailand, Wallace is already focused heavily on driving JAIH’s presence outside of the UAE into new markets, specifically in territories he has first-hand experience.

To date, the group has signed multiple third party management contracts for luxury resorts in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives, Seychelles, India and Vietnam.

Just last month, Wallace told Hotelier Middle East: “We’re embarking on major expansion overseas, both by acquisition and by third party management contracts which we’ve never done before, but now we’re in four countries just in the last four months,” said Wallace.

“They are significant moves for us and we’re close to signing another 10 contracts as well,” he revealed.

The first international hotel to open will be in the Seychelles by the end of this year. This will add to JAIH’s portfolio of five owned-and-operated hotels in the UAE, where the company was first established 30 years ago.

The global growth is also expected to be the catalyst for a potential rebrand of JAIH, although Wallace is remaining quiet on the matter for the moment.

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