11. Baran Turkel, Managing Director Turkey, Middle East & Central Asia, Best Western International
Diving straight into the Hotelier qatar power list, having taken on his role just seven months ago, turkel has big plans for best western international in the region.
Best Western recently made changes to its operational and development support strategy for the Middle East, which will now be centered in the Best Western International offices in Istanbul, Turkey where the company already supports 18 Best Western-branded hotels. Additionally, the company has hired a new managing director and development director for the region.
Baran Turkel joined the company just seven months ago to oversee the operational and development pipeline of the brand in the Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia. He joined from Marriott International, where he most recently held a senior managerial role at Istanbul Marriott Hotel, Sisli. Turkel currently oversees an operating portfolio of 18 hotels in Turkey and 11 operating hotels across Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and pipeline projects in Makkah, Iraq and Kuwait.
Over the last year, the company has signed six hotels; four in Saudi Arabia, one in Doha and the company’s Dubai debut — a Deira-based 250-room hotel, converted from Traders Hotel Dubai by Shangri-La in June. Looking to the future, Turkel says the region is a focus for the brand. “We want to continue to expand in the Middle East and have made the necessary investment to do so,” he says. “We expect to continue to add to the products we have in the Middle East and take advantage of the already rapid development in tourism taking place in the region.”
Turkel has worked in the hospitality industry for 18 years in hotels across Asia and Turkey.
By the numbers
Number of months in role: 7
Number of months with company: 7
Number of Middle East operating hotels: 11
Number of Middle East pipeline hotels: 10
Number of Qatar hotels: 2
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