Awards countdown: Marketing/PR Person of the Year

Ten top PR and marketing hoteliers have been long-listed for the title of Marketing/PR Person of the Year, part of the Hotelier Middle East Awards 2009.

Marketing/PR Person of the Year Award recognises the individual who has contributed most to their hotel’s positive exposure in an age where new mediums of communication are changing the marketing landscape.

It takes an active, intelligent and passionate person to make it in the world of PR and marketing and this impressive list of hoteliers proves the Middle East is blessed with some of the best in the business.

To see if your favourite has made the top 10 click on the links below.

Yasmine Hidalgo
PR & marketing communications manager
Renaissance Dubai Hotel

As a seasoned PR Professional, Yasmine Hidalgo knows how to think of out-of-the-box solutions for different challenges.

Visionary Yasmine, true to the Asian philosophy of mixing yin and yang, has seamlessly united the yin of hotel revenues and the yang of hotel services to another level as well as increasing media mileage.

Yasmine believes that what sets her apart from her PR colleagues is her maverick nature: she saw the opportunity of bringing much-needed revenue to the hotel by cultivating relationships with the diplomatic community to increase exposure and expand the customer base for group/catering sales opportunities.

One of the events she brought in to the hotel was the Philippine President Gloria Arroyo Labor Conference .

For the Philippine Consul General to hold one of its most important economic forums in the Middle East and attended by the Philippine President Her Excellency Gloria Arroyo brought pride to every Filipino associate in the hotel, which comprise about 40% of the staff.

Monthly themed food festivals, media blitzes and strong diplomatic connections make Yasmine a marketing force to be reckoned with.

Benedicte Flouriot
Marketing and communications manager
The Palace - The Old Town

Benedicte has worked at The Palace - The Old Town from the pre-opening stage and was responsible for developing the hotel’s brand name in the market.

In both pre-opening and opening stages, Benedicte not only ensured the marketing department ran efficiently, but also went the extra mile supporting the whole hotel organisation, becoming the communication link between all departments within the hotel.

One of Benedicte’s more recent key achievements was to adjust The Palace’s positioning, image, brand awareness and communications to come in line with those of The Address Hotels + Resorts, which took over the management of the hotel in August 2008.

In a very short time frame, Benedicte succeeded in synergising all communications between The Palace and The Address Hotels + Resorts, positively impacting the hotel’s communications strategies.

In the hype surrounding The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, Benedicte worked closely with the new hotel to ensure it complemented The Palace’s positioning, rather than becoming its competition.

Benedicte complements her achievements by giving everyone in the team a good chance to communicate their ideas and always goes beyond the scope of her duties.

Laura Perez Diaz
Director of public relations
The Address Hotels + Resorts

‘Build a relationship, not a database and keep in mind that your success is not measured by the size of your contact list’ is the mantra of Laura.

A global PR professional, Laura is a dynamic hotelier with more than 15 years of hospitality and PR experience.

From building media relations and creating a regional database from scratch to developing the advertising campaign, developing the hotel’s photo library to enhancing the website, she managed to let the world know about The Address Hotels + Resorts and The Address Downtown Burj Dubai within a matter of months.

Hard work, experience and true love for what she does has helped her to achieve her professional goals.

Her love for her profession drives her to tirelessly work to achieve goals and Laura aims to target the news in an intelligent matter, sending the proper news to the proper publication.

She also developed a comprehensive marketing campaign to position The Address Downtown Burj Dubai and its facilities, through printed publications, radio and on-line channels.

In addition, being a new hotel brand, she has created the graphic standards of collateral pieces such as the wedding brochure, The Address flyers, Spa collateral, The Address Newsletter among many others.

Ross McAuley
Director of marketing
Madinat Jumeirah Resort

Ross McAuley has been the director of marketing at Madinat Jumeirah since early 2007 and has proven himself to be integral to Madinat’s success; positioning its combined product and service offering as a destination in its own right.

Responsible for the brand promotion, advertising and communications of three grand boutique hotels, 29 restaurants, a retail souk and theatre, a conference centre and an industry acclaimed spa, Ross is agile, quick thinking and innovative, with an acute understanding of guests and global markets.

Ross is genuinely an all-round good person; a treasured role model for his team, an energetic, creative and dynamic member of Madinat Jumeirah’s senior leadership and strategy forums, and a highly respected industry professional; Ross has earned an admired ability to foster relationships across diverse groups of people.

During the past 12 months, Ross has championed a number of initiatives and exceeded a return on investment targets during a period of intense economic challenges.

Furthermore, Ross was responsible for ensuring Madinat Jumeirah was the first hotel business in the Middle East to launch a dedicated channel on timeout.com, generating more than 4,500,000 impressions to date.

Level headed, approachable at all times, enlightening, fun and motivational were just a few words used to describe Ross by his team.

Reema Baroudi
Director of PR & communications
InterContinental Abu Dhabi

Reema is renowned for establishing excellent media relations.

She is always quoted in the local newspapers when it comes to information related to the hotel and service industry and has established a number of social media channels for the hotel and constantly updates Facebook and Twitter pages.

Users of these channels are always impressed at the speed and quality of response they get from Reema.

Few can doubt her credentials when Reema’s summer campaign targeting UAE & GCC residence and nationals through press and radio channels became an unmitigated success.

A total revenue was achieved of AED 1,992,000.00.

Natalie Glorney
Director of communications
Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi

Natalie handles all the PR and Communications for Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, since its pre-opening in late summer 2006.

As a PR personnel, Natalie is involved with every department, making her a highly popular person. Her positivity is contagious and her drive to achieve results motivating.

With her excellent media relations, she managed to garner over Dhs1 million in media mileage last year. Working closely with Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts headquarters, she is also active in developing advertising and branding concepts with the appointed agency for the hotel.

Within her team, she is understanding and is always ready to provide a listening ear. She believes in leading by example and is there at the forefront every step of the way.

Always one of calm composure, she steadily brings her team through the opening of Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi; Shangri-La Residences; Pearls & Caviar restaurant and lounge bar and lastly, Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi.With her gentle yet firm guidance, Traders Hotel, AbuDhabi successfully opened on 1st August 2009.

Katerina Dixon
Director of marketing communications
InterContinental Hotels Group properties Dubai Festival City

Katerina Dixon has spearheaded the marketing and communication for the launch of three hotels, an Event Center, Spa InterContinental, 10 restaurants, six bars and the rebranding of Al Badia Golf Course.

She has initiated marketing campaigns that have elevated the hotels to the top end of their competitor set in terms of RevPar, devised and implemented CSR campaigns that raised AED 250,000, and led a department that has generated nearly AED nine million press coverage in the past 12 months alone.

Katerina helped to secure a two year contract with the Emirates Airlines Dubai Rugby 7s to link Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City as the main hotel sponsor for the tournament, and associate the brand with the largest sporting event with its local prospective audience.

Katerina has instigated celebrity marketing for the properties, welcoming personalities such as Queen, Paul Weller, Tony and Cheri Blair and most notably the recent marketing partnership with Paris Hilton.

InterContinental Dubai Festival City received massive exposure in local and international press, and incurred revenue from an evening whereby local guests could ‘Dine with Paris’ in the French fine-dining restaurant, Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire.

During her pregnancy in 2008, Katerina worked up until the day before giving birth, ever determined not to leave a job unfinished!

Her management of the press has seen Katerina Dixon become a household name in the Dubai media, and her reputation always precedes her as an incredible and formidable PR & marketing professional.

Derryn French
Director of market communications
The Westin & Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, Dubai

Mina Seyahi Complex general manager Peter Alatsas said it was a pleasure to work with “a colleague so driven and passionate to achieve great results whilst also
keeping a sense of good humour and fun towards all she does”.

The entire team at the Mina Seyahi wanted to nominate Derryn for her hard work and commitment to the organisation and with love like that you know you must be doing something right. 

Having achieved a more than impressive portfolio of PR releases, community campaigning projects, filming, and celebrity events for The Westin & Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, it is clear that Derryn is someone who doesn’t sit still.

She was promoted to her current title in March of this year and the future certainly looks bright for this incredibly talented director of market communications.

Neil Rumbaoa
Director of communications
Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai

A free spirited and jovial person that paints a smile on every canvas, Neil Rumbaoa comes highly commended from his colleagues at the Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.

Neil has made an indubitable contribution towards the hotel’s brand image and media values.

He made notable changes to the property’s print collaterals as well as e-newsletters for a fresh colourful appeal, interactive approach and style.

In addition to strategising the property’s promotional plans, his creative tact also shines through, in his contribution towards conceiving major hotel events and art direction of pictorials.

Nothing is too menial for him when duty calls.

With the group’s core values such as humility and helpfulness part of his repertoire of natural traits, he is an absolute professional who believes in enthusiasm and teamwork in getting things done.

His amicable demeanor and down to earth personality do not just make him a great human being, but a highly loved and respected team member as well.

Corryanne Draper
Marketing communications manager
Grand Hyatt Muscat

Corryanne has managed to elevate the Grand Hyatt Muscat’s relationship with the local media to the next level.

Having secured free PR to the value of around RO 10,000 per month through her contacts and relationships, her strategy is to use the hotel for photo shoots, competitions, sponsorships, e-commerce and radio exposure.

Examples include wedding fairs and kids summer camps that attracted thousands to the hotel.

Corryanne was also responsible for designing the hotel’s Facebook page and updates this on a daily basis to ensure that all members are aware of what is happening at Grand Hyatt Muscat.

Since the launch of the Facebook page in April 2009, she has managed to attract more than 700 members.

Not only does she manage all the E-campaigns, designing all the flyers, she is also responsible for maintaining the standards of the collateral for Grand Hyatt Muscat.

The feedback from colleagues is always very positive.