EVENT PREVIEW: Hotelier Great GM Debate 2013

Bani Haddad, Luigi Romaniello, Rupprecht Queitsch and Stephan Schupbach preview this year's Hotelier GM Debate.

Hoping to build on the continued success of the Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate series of conferences, in September the fourth edition of the annual education and networking event will be themed around the topic of ‘Hospitality Leaders, Innovators and Game Changers’, reports Samantha Medina

On the backdrop of a buoyant market, the hospitality industry in the UAE has seen a surge in both occupancy and competition over the last 12 months.

Following the recently announced Dubai Tourism Vision, which aims to double visitor numbers to 20 million by the end of the decade, this growth is only expected to continue and as a result the annual Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate will seek to address the opportunities available to hospitality leaders and innovators across the country in the coming years.

Ahead of the forum, which will be held on September 9 at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, Hotelier Middle East selected an advisory panel to oversee the development of the agenda.

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Bani Haddad, regional vice president – Middle East & Africa of Wyndham Hotel Group; Luigi Romaniello, managing director of Rosewood Abu Dhabi; Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager of JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai and Stephan Schupbach, general manager of Jumeirah Zabeel Saray formed the panel, all keen to share experiences and ideas ahead of this one-of-a-kind interactive forum designed only for hotel GMs.

The panel came together for lunch at Zabeel Saray’s Voi restaurant on June 17 to shape the agenda and discuss the potential topics that general managers will want to hear more about on the day.

From the panel, it became apparent that while a range of regulatory, operational and strategic challenges impact a hotelier’s success as a GM, it is their skills as a leader and an innovator that define it.

As the advisory panelists dissected their role within the industry, four key areas emerged as high potential opportunities for success, if GMs can get them right.

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