10.35am: Jumeirah Group is bound to attract a lot of attention at ATM, following Gerald Lawless’ revelation yesterday that the group could bring back the Venu Hotels brand. Lawless said the luxury hotelier was “seriously considering” launching in a second brand in the contemporary lifestyle segment. Venu was abandoned back in 2011 in light of the global economic crisis.
10.10am: Did you know the Oetker Collection of hotels is looking at the Middle East as an important market? While the closest properties to this region are in the Seychelles and Morocco, the brand is exploring options in Istanbul, Oman and even Dubai.
10.00am: Wolfgang Neumann, president and CEO of Rezidor Hotel Group, has revealed the Hotel Missoni Kuwait will be rebranded as a Quorvus Collection property.
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09.50am: We recently heard that Bill Keffer had been promoted to the role of general manager at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel. Congratulations Bill! But did you wonder when former GM Rupprecht Queitsch had gone? Hotelier spied him merrily brandishing new business cards — this GM has turned entrepreneur and set up INHOCO, otherwise known as the International Hospitality Consulting Group, based in JLT in Dubai. It’s very early days, but Queitsch says he’s partnered with some like-minded hoteliers and has been amazed by the interest there is in doing business in Dubai.
09.35am: Also developing a new brand is Pascal Eppink, formerly GM at Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras Al Khaimah before moving to China for the past three years. Eppink is now back in the Middle East and responsible for creating the new four star hotel brand for Omran, the Omani tourism developer. As managing director of Atana Hotels, Eppink says one property has already been converted under the brand, but that there is a lot more to come.
09.20am: The AHIC and ATM week is a great one for catching up with some familiar faces. We’ve seen Marc Dardenne, the former CEO of Emaar Hospitality Group and man behind creating The Address Hotels + Resorts brand. Dardenne is now based in Singapore and gearing up to launch the first Patina Hotel there, a brand he has developed for a hotel owner in Singapore. We saw him at AHIC, where he hinted there could be plans to bring Patina to Dubai.
09.05am: With a couple of hours to go until the exhibiton starts, the Hotelier and Arabian Travel News teams are excited about the next few days. If you are coming to the Dubai World Trade Centre over the next few days, please do try and visit us on stand HC5010.
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