Marriott International has revealed the executive team who will drive the opening of the new Marriott Hotel Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi in Q1 2017.
Located in Al Forsan International Sports Resort within Khalifa City, the 400-bed five-star Marriott Hotel Al Forsan offers high-tech meeting rooms, six signature F&B venues, extensive sports facilities including an equestrian centre and polo field, a waterski and wakeboarding lake and two indoor paintballing areas.
In September 2016, Richard Bleakley was appointed general manager of the Marriott Hotel Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi, and has extensive experience within the hospitality industry, beginning his career as an area sales manager for Marriott in the UK.
Prior to his new role, Bleakley was GM of Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi. During this time, he was awarded the 'Diamond General Manager of the year' award by Marriott International
Forming part of the executive team is Saad Al Ghamdi as director of sales and marketing. He was named 'Sales Leader of the Year' for the Middle East and Africa in 2012, and delivered record profits that year in his role as Marriott International cluster director of sales and marketing at Jeddah and Madinah Marriott Hotels. Al Ghamdi started his career with Marriott in 1999 and Marriott Hotel Al Forsan will be his fourth hotel opening with Marriott International across two different countries and three Marriott International brands.
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Naleem Ariff, director of operations, has more than 13 years’ experience in the hospitality industry and joined Marriott in 2006, where he was appointed restaurant and bar manager of JW Marriott Hotel, Dubai. Previous appointments include the role of F&B director at Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club in the United Kingdom, followed by director of operations at the Northampton Marriott Hotel, UK, and then director of operations at Leicester Marriott Hotel, UK. In 2015, he moved to the UAE where he was appointed director of operations at Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi, before stepping in as acting GM at the same property in 2016.
The hotel's director of engineering, Alan Paul Myers, has more than 38 years’ engineering experience in the hospitality industry and started his career with Marriott International in 1997. Prior to this appointment he was director of engineering at The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo, Egypt. Throughout his career, Alan has coordinated numerous projects, renovations and hotel openings and will now will oversee the completion of the property, in addition to being responsible for the upkeep and maintenance.
Albena Angelova Teophilova, director of finance, has over 10 years of experience with Marriott International. She started her career with the company in 2000.
Petra Solle has been appointed as multi-property director of human resources, and has previously worked as a human resources professional across a variety of Marriott hotels in the United Kingdom. She was part of the pre-opening team of Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi as director of HR and more recently director of human resources at Marriott Hotel and Marriott Executive Apartments Downtown Abu Dhabi.
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