Hotelier Awards nominations ramping up

The deadline for Hotelier Middle East Awards 2015 nominations is just six weeks away and submissions are flooding in.

This year’s James Bond-themed awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 28 October at InterContinental Dubai Festival City.

Now in its 11th year, the Hotelier Middle East Awards provides hoteliers working in the Middle East hotel industry with an opportunity to congratulate their colleagues, who, through hard-work, innovative ideas and willingness to go above and beyond, ensure their hotels excel in the ever-competitive Middle East hotel industry.

Robert Willock, editorial director of Hotelier Middle East, said: “Our local hospitality sector continues to innovate to drive business efficiencies and improve guest experiences.

“Every year the Hotelier Middle East Awards praises and rewards professional excellence from individuals and teams alike.

“So if you or your colleagues have done something outstanding in the past 12 months that you feel deserves recognition, make sure you complete the simple awards nomination process at www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/awards. You have just six weeks to enter, so don’t delay!”

This year, there are 16 categories to choose from, 15 of which are for individual nominations covering a broad range of roles from HR to Purchasing and F&B.

We have widened some of the categories this year to include a larger range of job functions.

Concierge of the Year is now Front Office Person of the Year, meaning that guest relations, guest services, reservations, and front office staff are incorporated, in addition to concierge.

The HR Person of the Year Award has now been expanded to include training managers, since we had such a focus on training in last year’s HR entries.

With hotel purchasing and procurement constantly evolving, we have decided to merge purchasing and finance roles, and our Sales Person of the Year Awards has been altered to include the marketing function.

The Sales & Marketing Person of the Year will be ambitious, results-driven and dynamic, with the numbers to back up their stories.

Another new category this year, which reflects the popularity of the Hotelier Middle East Safety & Security Summit, is Safety & Security Person of the Year.

Categories that are no longer applicable are PR, laundry, CSR person, and Chef de Cuisine of the Year.

However candidates from all departments can be nominated for the Young Hotelier of the Year Award if they are 30 years old or under on the date of the ceremony (October 28).

Additionally, the Unsung Hero of the Year Award goes to an outstanding member of staff in a department that may often be overlooked.

Planning for this year’s event is well underway, and this year’s Bond-theme has provided the Hotelier team with a license to thrill.

Will there be cars, special Bond-themed beverages, and gadgets? All will be revealed shortly.

Last year’s Japanese-themed 10th anniversary event attracted a record 600 guests and we put on a show with Geisha girls, Taiko drummers and a Japenese-themed menu.

This year we hope to attract an even bigger crowd, as the Middle East hotel industry sees more properties spring up each month, and the talent pool widen as a result.

The Hotelier Middle East Awards 2015 is being sponsored by some of the biggest names in the industry including Diversey, EcoLab, Restonic, Pulsar Foodstuff, San Pellegrino/ Aqua Panna, Figjam, Protect-a-bed, Ronai, The Emirates Academy and Tableart.

For sponsorship opportunities contact Stephen.Price@itp. For table bookings contact Natasha.Bhatia@itp.com and for nomination enquiries, email Crystal.Chesters@itp.com.

All of the information you need on how to nominate a colleague for a Hotlelier Middle East Awards is available here: www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/awards.