Jumeirah appoints first Emirati hotel GM

Jumeirah Group has appointed the first Emirati hotel general manager, Samer Khanfar, for Jumeirah Living World Trade Centre Residences in Dubai.

The news comes as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, urged the private sector to hire more Emiratis.

“I call on my colleagues in the private sector that have benefited greatly from this country to extend a helping hand in the process of Emiratisation, even in a tiny percentage, to make a contribution to growth of this country,” Sheikh Mohammed said in a question and answer session at a government conference in Dubai. Read more on this here.

Samer Khanfar, who was born and raised in Dubai, joined Jumeirah Group in 2006 as a retail outlet manager.

His career in Jumeirah progressed rapidly, first as retail manager of Souk Madinat Jumeirah, progressing onto director of retail, and later director of property at Jumeirah Living World Trade Centre Residence.

Earlier in his career, Khanfar held various managerial and sales positions within the construction and chemical industry before discovering his passion for the hospitality sector when he joined Jumeirah.

He holds a diploma in retail management from Stonebridge Associated College (UK), a diploma in property management from Ashworth College (USA) and a certificate in Hotel Real Estate Asset Management from Cornell University (USA).

Jumeirah’s emiratisation programme includes a UAE National Development Programme as well as scholarships and programmes at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management.

Jumeirah Living World Trade Centre, next to the Dubai World Trade Centre, opened in 2008, it was the first property in the Jumeirah Living portfolio.