Hotelier Awards 2018 shortlist: Marketing & PR Person of the Year

There are eight shortlisted candidates within the Marketing & PR Person of the Year category for the 2018 edition of the Hotelier Middle East Awards; find out who they are!

Click through to find out who has been shortlisted this year...

Jessi Chai, assistant marketing & communications manager, Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort

Jessi Chai’s hospitality experience began at Fairmont Pacific Rim in 2013 after which she proceeded to Switzerland to complete her MBA in International Hospitality in 2014 from Glion Institute of Higher Education. during her time at Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort, Chai has handled more than 200 media trips in the last 15 months receiving praise from media, journalists, and publications from UK, Italy, Russia, Germany, and the GCC.

Ionela Savescu, public relations manager, Palazzo Versace Dubai

With a BA in Journalism and a major in Public Relations, Ionela Savescu started her career in 2006, working for one of the leading newspapers in Romania, Evenimentul Zilei, covering social issues. In 2013, she moved to Dubai and worked as a PR consultant with PR boutique agencies, handling mostly hospitality and F&B brands. Since she joined Palazzo Versace Dubai in August 2016, Savescu has managed to significantly increase the hotel’s press coverage advertising equivalent value by nearly US $3 million from 2016 to 2017. 

Katerina Dixon, director of marketing and communications, Fairmont The Palm

Katerina Dixon joined Fairmont The Palm in 2015, where she has since been driving a number of PR and marketing campaigns for the hotel. Over the past 12 months, Dixon has conceptualised and launched the resorts “Be.Your.Best” wellness brand promise, developing the foundation for global distribution within the Fairmont brand. She has focused her efforts on repositioning the hotel within the local dining scene, launching five new F&B concepts and designs following latest trends over the last 12 months alone. Dixon has created and managed multiple successful PR and community driven campaigns with viral reach through use of partnerships with local and international brands which has generated a significant amount of revenue for the property.

Sharday Filo, cluster marketing executive, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Hilton Dubai The Walk and Hilton Dubai Creek

Since her joining, Sharday Filo has overseen the launch of Trader Vic’s and handled the marketing Wavebreaker’s Beach Stadium. Recently,  with The World Cup being one of the biggest events in the hotel, Filo managed to single-handedly organised this month-long event with a ‘360 degree campaign’ which lead to huge media sponsorship deal as well as generation of a significant amount of revenue for the property.

Katharina van Beugen-Mayr, cluster director of PR & communications, Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Waterfront / Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Canal View

Katharina van Beugen-Mayr successfully executed the marketing plan for the pre-opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Waterfront property with a successful and well received ‘friendliest five star hotel in Dubai tag line.She also generated brand web, social media and media presence throughout the entire pre- and post-opening phase. She was responsible for launching several awareness campaigns such as an outdoor advertising campaign, more than 30 media events and hosted approximately 100 influencers in the first three months of operation. She also implemented the 'No Sir / No Madam' internal campaign.

Rochelle Martinez, marketing & communications executive, TIME Grand Plaza Hotel

Rochelle Martinez’s fresh ideas has helped build Time Grand Plaza Hotel’s branding since her time at the hotel. With numerous activities and events such as Breast Cancer Awareness Walkathon, Earth Hour Day, Clean Up Day, etc., that Martinez spearheaded, Time Grand Plaza Hotel has earned CSR awards such as Best Green Team by Dubai Sustainable Tourism and Green Key from Emirates Green Building Council. She also solely handled the hotel’s social media accounts and conceptualised strategies such as running online contests on a weekly basis and communicating with the right customers through targeted ads that helped grow the platforms across the board. Martinez's collaboration with a Saudi blogger also led to a 45% increase in bookings.

Terje Abrams, public relations manager, Fairmont Dubai

Terje Abrams is currently 26 years old and started her hospitality career five years ago as a waitress under the 40°C heat in a beach restaurant at Kempinski Hotel Ajman. Her foreign language skills and daily increasing up-selling numbers at the restaurant quickly moved her up the ranks to a culinary concierge position 5 months from joining. When completing the first year, she won employee of the year title and in March 2015 was given an opportunity to take over the hotel’s public relations department, resulting in all-time highest media coverage and exceeding all KPIs by the end of the year. In April 2016 she was promoted to a PR manager, acting as the regional PR in-charge to conduct media interviews with the COO and in 2017, she was headhunted to join Fairmont Dubai and 11 months later awarded as the Leader of the Year runner up due to her contributions on promoting Fairmont Dubai.

Vivian Renders, director of marketing and communications, Armani Hotel Dubai

A BA Business Administration degree holder from Hotel Management School in Maastricht, The Netherlands, Vivian Renders began her Dubai career in 2012, working for a PR agency before joining the hotel as marketing and communications executive. In the six years since, she rose through the department ranks to become director of marketing and communications. She now leads the team responsible for driving internal and external marketing activity and communications strategy for the property. Renders plays a pivotal role in developing and initiating the hotel’s marketing strategy for its number one source market, China. Between 2016 and 2017, this led to a 70% growth in the source market.