Le Meridien Dubai Convention and Exhibition Centre complex public relations and communications manager Deveekaa Nijhawan won the coveted Marketing & PR Person.
Judges were impressed with Nijhawan’s ability to work independently to generate publicity, build media relations, network with key influencers and create marketing opportunities for the hotel.
She won by a unanimous vote for keeping her property’s F&B outlets in the news (of which there are 18), along with garnering coverage for events from a variety of publications, generating more media coverage.
“I approach my job with a holistic approach – right from media coverage, journalist association to understanding the requirements of the operations team in the hotel. I sit with the F&B director and director of operations, before we launch any new promotion or campaign. And since we have 18 F&B outlets it can get quite daunting,” Nijhawan said.
Nijhawan’s efforts in PR and marketing resulted in a 13% increase in coverage across all forms of national and international media. Several activations for the hotel’s F&B outlets, along with a successful launch campaign for the heavily renovated Grand Ballroom swayed the jury in her favour.
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Her tie-ups with DTCM, Zomato and local banks also resulted in huge revenues for the hotel.
Nijhawan is known for her hands-on approach, often sharing a close relation with journalists.
“I’m approachable and down to earth, and from the first day of my job I have tried to understand what journalists actually require. I believe in going the extra mile, building the relationship and getting to know them on a personal level. It’s easy for me because I am a people’s person and I love what I do,” she said.
Terje Abrams of Kempinski Ajman was high commended by the judges, whose work ethic and dedicated efforts were taken note of.
Lodging director key accounts of Sealed Air Diversey, Alp Aksoy, presented the award to Nijhawan.
The 2016 Hotelier Awards took place last night (October 26) at the Ritz-Carlton Dubai International Financial Centre and recognised the industry's finest professionals.
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