The Hotelier Middle East Awards 2012 are once again set to be the highlight on the hotel industry calendar this year.

Not only did Hotelier receive more than 700 individual nominations for this eighth edition, not to mention close to 40 submissions for Team of the Year from some of the region’s most prestigious hotels, but the Awards ceremony itself has a new venue and for the first time ever, a theme for the celebrations.

Expected to be the most glamorous ceremony yet, on October 31 Hotelier is heading back to The Roaring Twenties for the awards ceremony at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC in Dubai presented by sponsor du, as we prepare to celebrate classic hospitality and recognise those hoteliers putting their guests and colleagues first. With a theme inspired by the famous Cotton Club of New York, the evening will bring together jazz music, flapper fashion and 1920s memorabilia.

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Unlike other hospitality awards, the Hotelier Middle East Awards do not reward the newest, biggest or trendiest hotel, instead they are designed to celebrate the service stars and management maestros delivering top quality guest experiences and developing successful career paths for themselves and their associates. Nor are the awards decided upon by counting up a tally of votes or seeing how many people have clicked on a link; the finalists are debated and agreed upon by a panel of industry judges.

Following a lengthy short listing process by the hospitality group at ITP Business, where the hundreds of nominations were painstakingly whittled down to a shortlist of five for each of the 19 categories, the judging panel meet at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management to discuss, debate and decide the nominees' fates.

With the identities of the winners being kept a closely-guarded secret until the ceremony, here Hotelier presents the shortlisted candidates. Each of their nominations is backed up by a series of testimonials so to give an insight into the calibre of the competition, we have provided a short sample. To ensure you don’t miss finding out who wins, make sure you are one of the 500 hoteliers attending the celebrations.

Guy Wilkinson, director, Viability

Viability is a hospitality and real estate consultancy based in Dubai. Wilkinson has a successful track record of strategic thinking for major hotel chains, tourism authorities and property owners in the Gulf and Middle East. He has contributed to more than 350 projects throughout the MEA.

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