Hotelier Awards 2017 shortlist: Young Hotelier of the Year

Championing upcoming talent is important to the hospitality industry, and to Hotelier Middle East. Here are the final six candidates nominated in the Young Hotelier of the Year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards.

If you'd like to meet last year's winners of all categories, click here to find out more...

Click through to find out who has been shortlisted this year... and take a look at last year's event in the video below!

Anjum Muhammad Hafeez, human resources and learning & development coordinator, InterContinental Regency Bahrain

Anjum Muhammad Hafeez joined InterContinental Regency Bahrain in 2014 as a linen attendant / housekeeping coordinator. Six months later, she got selected for the IHG Hotel Operations Supervisory Training (I-HOST) programme and went through a 12-month intensive supervisory training program rotating in all hotel departments for the first three months. She learned the fundamentals of how the hotel industry works and then chose human resources as an operational function to specialise with for 36 weeks. She successfully completed all the requirements and criteria set forth by I-HOST board, graduated in November 2016 and was promoted as a human resources and learning & development coordinator.

Daniel Pictor, outlet manager, Bridges Sports Bar, Fairmont Dubai

Daniel Pictor was 15 years old when he joined the “Steak By Night” restaurant as a waiter in his hometown Swansea, in the UK. During his tenure, Pictor was promoted to a supervisor, becoming the youngest-ever 17-year-old leader in the team, and ultimately becoming a training manager in the same venue. Due to the late-night steakhouse concept, his working hours were from 6pm to 4am, in parallel to that, he was graduating high school. Pictor moved to Fairmont Dubai in January 2015 as Bridges Sports Bar manager, consequently taking on his first actual position at the hotel operations. His working hours were often extended until late hours in the morning, due to insufficient manning; however Pictor didn’t mind running between the tables and serving guests, as he knew that being a role model for the team was the most important.

Noura Al Boodai, sales executive, Al Ahsa InterContinental

Noura Al Boodai, a Saudi national, has started her career on January 15, 2015 as a fitness trainer. She was previously one of the members in the ladies' health club. During the aerobics and Zumba sessions, she was a very active member to the point where other ladies wanted her to handle both classes. The hotel management was informed about it. So, Al Boodai was offered and accepted the job as a fitness trainer. During her time, and because of her positive attitude, the number of the ladies’ memberships had gradually increased and even exceeded the expectation. The prime factor that made her sessions one of the most popular in Al Ahsa is her ability to personalise the approach for each client.

Olga Velceva, assistant front office manager, Palazzo Versace Dubai

Olga Velceva pursued a Bachelors Degree in UET – Instituto Europeo per il Turismo in Milan, Italy. The course included several internships in 5-star hotels with focus on front desk operations and events management. She started as a guest service executive in Burj Al Arab, a role that made her responsible for managing all pre-arrival arrangements as well as handling the actual arrivals of the guests. During this period, she won Colleague of the Month numerous times, was appointed as a task and group trainer and championed the Lobster Ink Project. Within four years of working in Burj Al Arab, Velceva was promoted from a guest service executive to a team leader, then assistant guest relations manager and eventually guest services manager. She joined Palazzo Versace Dubai’s pre-opening team as assistant front office manager.

Saurav Puri, director of revenue strategy, The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai

With a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management, Saurav Puri joined the Voyage programme in sales & marketing (management training) with Marriott Hotels in India. During this programme, he took over the job responsibility of sales executive within a month’s time at Goa Marriott. He was awarded the best project award on improving sales processes, achieved record sales and achieved record breaking gala dinner sales of all time for New Year. Based on the results, he was moved to Mumbai where he developed the International MICE segment clocking a staggering number of room nights in a year, which paved his path to rge market sales team. He then found his true love in revenue management.

Srinivasan Gopalsamy, pastry chef, Crowne Plaza Bahrain

Srinivasan Gopalsamy was only 19 years old when he first joined the Atria Hotel in Bangalore, India as Commis 3 – Bakery. Originally from Chennai, he left his hometown 900km away to start his dream of becoming a pastry chef. His family wanted him to study engineering. However, he was too focused on following his dream career and moved to Bangalore. In Atria Hotel, Gopalsamy would travel for two hours to cover the breakfast buffet. Once joining IHG, due to Gopalsamy’s performance and high potential, he was selected to participate in IHG’s Leading Others programme (Great Team), which is a six months leadership competencies course programme recognized by the Confederation of Tourism & Hospitality, UK.