AS IT HAPPENED: The Hotelier Great GM Debate

Welcome to our live coverage of the Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate, which is taking place at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai.

The fifth edition of the event features a stellar speaker line-up and a full day of presentations, debates and workshops. For a full preview, click HERE.

Don't forget to also follow our Twitter account - @HotelierME - for the latest pictures from the event and follow #GMDebate14

04:30pm And that brings to an end the Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate 2014. A great day and plenty to digest. Keep your eyes on HotelierMiddleEast.com for all the news from the event.

04:25pm What the panellists' ambitions? Chaudet is enjoying what he's doing, Moenkedieck feels there's no reason for his career to end at this current point, Paul only immediate goal is the opening of the next phase of Madinat Jumeirah.

04:15pm Is moving around brands good or bad? Casson says it depends on whether you love the brand, Chaudet says it can be good to get a feel for different brand cultures. Moenkedieck says it is about finding the brand that inspires passion and Paul believes it is important to feel comfortable with a brand and share its values.

04:05pm What would you look for in a GM? Casson would seek a track record and ability to create human interactions and tenacity/perseverance. For Paul it is about passion, quality and varied experience, as well as business acumen. Moenkedieck would also want resilience and a good commercial sense, as well as the ability to excite a room of people. Chaudet would want someone who shares the vision of the owner, as well as someone who matches the characteristics of the brand.

04:00pm Casson not a fan of affirmative action, in terms of getting more women and Emiratis in GM positions, but says important to create a level playing field. Paul touts success of Jumeirah's various Emiratisation programmes. Moenkedieck says new generations views hospitality very differently to previous generations as a career choice and is seeing a healthy number of Emiratis coming into industry.

03:50pm Margaret Paul stresses importance of identifying individuals with potential and developing them, and also having a succession plan. She says key to having great GMs in the future is ensuring they have an understanding of the Jumeirah culture.

03:45pm Singular element that has changed is the relationship with asset management, says Casson. If you don't have collaborative relationship with the owner, difficult to be an inspirational leader. 

03.35pm The final panel session of the day is on the evolution of the GM. Rupprecht Queitsch returns to moderate and we also have Simon Casson, regional vice president & general manager, Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah
Beach, Margaret Paul, general manager, Madinat Jumeirah – The Arabian Resort, Laurent Chaudet, general manager, Pullman Dubai Deira City Centre and Jan Moenkedieck, general manager, Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah.

03:10pm We ought to have transcended the 'bigger is better' attitide to social media follower numbers, believes Kubler. He says it is about the level of engagement.

03:00pm If you have to prioritise on social media, do it on the basis of which one your guests are using the most, explains Kubler. However, you still need to make you monitor them all.

02:50pm Take time with a dedicated team to answer to social media users to turn a bad experience into a good experience, says Patel. Tripadvisor reviews very different to comments and discussions while guests are still on property, says Gee. He adds that hotels need to be proactive.

02.45pm The third panel session is on social media in hospitality and the GMs' responsibility to reputation. Contributors include Marko Janssen, General Manager, Melia Dubai, Stephen Gee, Director of Operations, Zaya Retreats and Martin Kubler, Director, Iconsulthotels and Kempinksi Hotel Mall of the Emirates marketing communications manager Elodie Patel.

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02:40pm After a fantastic lunch break, Margaret Paul, General Manager, Madinat Jumeirah - The Arabian Resort is now on stage explaining why she thinks women make great leaders. She believes certain skills come more naturally to women than men, including communication, empathy and collaboration. Her advice to men: "Never question women's capabilities. It will make them all the more determined to prove you wrong."

12:35pm Delegates have now broken off for some workshop sessions with a choice of sessions on: waste management; the hidden revenue and profit potential of in-house guests; and F&B innovation.

12:30pm Michael Martin, General Manager & Regional General Manager, InterContinental Dubai Marina & Intercontinental Hotel Group stays on the stage for a quick presentation on what he learned during his time in China. Fascinating insights into adjusting to different cultures and the lessons that can learned. Thinking really needs to shift on food and service, for example, if hotels are to attract more Chinese guests.

12:20pm Panellists broadly positive about prospects going forward, especially with the growing number of airline routes into Dubai and the expected increased airlift. Arora makes interesting point that only one in six passengers passing through Dubai International Airport actually stay in the emirate. Diversification could help to encourage more to stay.

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12.15pm Finally Expo 2020 comes up. Thompson sees it as icing on the cake and a milestone along the way; David Brown sees opportunities during the six months of the Expo itself.

12:05pm Discussion moves on to importance of F&B. InterContinental Dubai Marina is expecting half its revenues to come from F&B and will need business from the market, not just hotel residents.

12:00pm No doubt in David Thomson's mind about need for more three and four star hotels. Says it is absolutely necessary to maintain Dubai as a viable market and to get tourism on the level that the emirate is aiming for.

11.55am Arora's SKAI Holdings developing the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah resort in Dubai, and he hopes it will be ready by Q2 2016. However, with need for diversification, company is also developing a 400 room 4-star hotel in Jumeirah Village Circle and is still searching for an operator.

11:50am Martin confirms that the InterContinental Dubai Marina is expected to open early next year. He sees three or four hotels in the Marina that he will be looking to compete against. He says that it is important that his competitive set takes a "holistic view" of what drives the market.

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11:40am Following on neatly from that Q&A session, we now have a panel discussion on healthy competition, with contributions from Michael Martin, General Manager & Regional General Manager, InterContinental Dubai Marina & Intercontinental Hotel Group, David Brown, General Manager, Fraser Suites Dubai, David Thomson, Chief Operating Officer, JA Resorts & Hotels and Amit Arora, CEO Hospitality, SKAI Holdings.

11:35am Questions from the audience now for Almarri, including one on the impact of the Tourism Dirham. He thinks things have moved in a positive way, with no negative impact and all the money collected going into international promotion. Over coming 3-4 months, we should see introduction of digital assets, additional overseas offices, campaigns abroad, focused not just on traditional markets, but also markets with potential. "Are we on people's lists, of one of the five places they want to visit?"

11:25am Almarri is now talking about the hotel classification system, which has recently been overhauled. Hoping new technology will simplify things. He also says that by end of 2015 the DTCM's vocational college should be up and running at a temporary location.

11:20am Almarri doesn't want room rates to be cheap; doesn't want Dubai to seen as a cheap destination. "I'm quite comfortable with the current situation. Now in the pipeline we have the right number of hotels coming through." He adds that he's happy with balance of room number and visitor growth.

11:15am: We now have Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) director general His Excellency Helal Almarri on stage for a Q&A session. He starts of by thanking the industry, He describes support from hoteliers as 'inspiring' over the last 18 months in the Vision 2020 push. He also believes the right visitors are coming to Dubai and spending money in hotels and restaurants. "Diversification is going further and we are getting a lot more visitors from Africa and the Far East," he adds.

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11:10am Conference hall packed again as Stewart Selbie, area manager at Starwood Hotels Abu Dhabi and general manager at The St. Regis Saadiyat Island takes to the stage. He is explaining why it is people that make the difference. Emotional intelligence significantly more important than IQ, he believes.

10:30am Delegates taking a break after a lively start to the day, Already plenty of numbers to digest from the opening presentation - which we have pulled together HERE.

10:15am Rupprecht Queitsch, CEO & senior partner of INHOCO Group explaining what he is aiming to achieve with his new consulting firm. Good to have the former GM of the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel here. "Vision without execution is hallucination," he says.

10:05am UAE and and Saudi Arabia propping up the Middle East market, says Wooler. But Egypt could be coming back up.

09:55am Up to owners and operators to decide how to apportion service charge, says Wooler. Clearly an emotive subject when it comes to benchmarks. Only way to have a true benchmark, says Voivenel, is to have regulations. Descrozaille would rather have no benchmarks than have added regulation!

09:40am First panel session looking at beating benchmarks, with Philip Wooler, area director Middle East & Africa, STR Global, Laurent A. Voivenel, CEO, HMH Hotel Group, and Marc Descrozaille, regional director - UAE, Egypt, Jordan & Oman, The Rezidor Hotel Group. Moderated by TRI's Chris Hewett.

09:30am In Abu Dhabi, attractions wil help to drive the market. New malls will bring Saudi visitors, while Louvre and Guggenheim will attract more Europeans, explains Hewett. Lot of people also looking at spending more days in Abu Dhabi becuase of more competitive prices than Dubai.

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09:25am Within Dubai, market will continue to grow, with 12 million visitors this year, says Hewett. Strong demand will mean opportunities to further drive rate. He adds that F&B will be a key aspect, with an increasingly competitive market. Lots of challenges for hoteliers in terms of concepts, outsourcing etc.

09:15am Chris Hewett, Senior Consultant, TRI Hospitality Consulting now setting the scene with a hotel market overview and an outlook. He says we should expect demand from Saudi Arabia to grow in Abu Dhabi, as the emirate develops its leisure segment.

09:10am One of the highlights of today's programme is expected to be a Q&A session with Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) director general His Excellency Helal Almarri

09:00am The conference hall is rapidly filling up as Hotelier Middle East editor Louise Oakley takes to the stage to welcome delegates

08:15am While there is plenty of food for thought on offer with today's programme, another big talking point is likely to be this year's Hotelier Middle East Power 50 , which we unveiled yesterday. Find out who made the list - and who topped it - HERE.

08:00am The Hotelier Middle East team is gathered at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel for what promises to be a busy day. Delegates are already starting to arrive at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and in an hour's time we'll be taking