What to expect from the Great GM Debate 2018

Hotelier Middle East will host its ninth annual Great GM Debate on September 10, 2018 at Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre. The conference, which kicks off at 7:30am with registration and a welcome breakfast, provides more than 200 general managers and corporate hoteliers with a forum to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities they face on a day-to-day basis, and to learn from the best practice of their peers in a mutually supportive environment.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

The event will offer three weighty topics of debate, all of which are designed to reflect the concerns of today’s hotelier and provide a chance for the industry to discuss how to tackle these issues.

The first panel discussion, titled ‘Balancing Supply & Bridging the Gap’, will discuss the diversification of the hotel industry in the UAE. The demand for luxury hotels in the GCC as a whole remains strong; however, global travel trends have seen a dramatic shift among millennial travellers whose choices are vastly different to those of the generation that came before them. However, the existing stock of properties across the UAE and those that are currently in the pipeline still lean heavily towards the luxury end. Understanding why this gap exists and how to bridge it so that the UAE has a more balanced offering is imperative for the success of the country if it is to be able to accommodate the ambitious visitor numbers that are expected in the coming years. So what are hoteliers doing to address the gap, how many mid-market rooms does the country actually need, and what are the challenges that are holding back the development of mid-market hotels?

The second debate will tackle the evolution of the sector, and is called ‘Hospitality 2.0 — Efficiency is King’. With the emergence of services like Uber and other apps that make instant results possible, consumers are beginning to expect the same level of convenience, personalisation, and efficiency everywhere they go. This trend hasn’t skipped hotels, and has meant that a lot of hotels have had to upgrade software and other technologies, adapt their way of marketing, their way of communicating with guests, their hiring strategy and how they operate in general, just to keep up with the demands of their guests. However, as hotel expenses continue to increase, hoteliers need to carefully manage their operation costs making sure to re-evaluate regularly and take the time to reflect on how efficient the hotel’s operation costs actually are. So how are hoteliers ensuring that their business models remain flexible and efficient in order to guarantee success?

Finally, ‘The M&A Boom — The Owner’s Perspective’ will bring the parties on the other side of the table to the forefront. The last few years have been marked by some unprecedented large-scale mergers and acquisitions of hotel operator companies. The benefits of brand acquisition for operators are obvious — increasing scale, broadening loyalty programme participation and customer touchpoints, all aid in accelerating earnings and market share growth — however, the consolidation of some of the biggest hospitality companies in the world is not necessarily always good news for the hotel owners. The impact of M&As on the companies involved, their staff and the consumers have all been discussed and deliberated in various forms, less however has been addressed from the owner’s perspective. Whether the result is good or bad, how are the owners of the bricks and mortar hotels impacted by these mergers and acquisitions?

PRESENTATIONS

Snappy presentations on specific topics which affect the general managers of today will be hosted by the experts in the field. This year, Chris Hewett from TRI returns to give the general managers and corporate teams an update on the market data and forecast for the months ahead.

In addition to this, another presentation as well as three ‘Ignite Talks’ will be part of the agenda for the day. The idea behind the Ignite Talks is to hear from industry members-in-the-know about a topical issue, which are designed to ignite ideas and discussion.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS TILL DATE

• Chris Hewett - Director, TRI Consulting
• Ignace Bauwens - Regional Vice President, Middle East, Eurasia & Africa, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
• Laurent A. Voivenel - Senior Vice President, Operations & Development - Middle East, Africa & India, Swiss-Belhotel International
• Elie Milky - Vice President Business Development Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Radisson Hotel Group
• Marloes Knippenberg - Chief Executive Officer, Kerten Hospitality
• Martin Kubler – Chief Executive Officer, SPS: Affinity
• James Berry - General Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Media City
• Siegfried Poppe – Chief Operating Officer, Smartotels
• Remco Werkhoven – General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Dubai Business Bay
• Christian Merieau – Founding Partner, MMAC Design Associates
• Rupprecht Queitsch – Chief Executive Officer & Senior Partner, INHOCO Group
• Yannis Anagnostakis – Chief Executive Officer, RAK Hospitality Holding
• Rabih Feghali - Vice President – Business Development & Investor Relations, Ròya International
• Khalid Anib - Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi National Hotels

EVENT DETAILS

Date: September 10, 2018
Venue: Le Méridien Dubai Hotel + Conference Centre
To sponsor: Contact Kelly Jenkins at kelly.jenkins@itp.com, Nick Clowes at
nick.clowes@itp.com, Amanda Stewart at amanda.stewart@itp.com, or Sandra Spencer at sandra.spencer@itp.com. 
To speak or attend: Contact Louby Maktari at louby.maktari@itp.com
Website: www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/conferences/gm-uae/