Power 50 Revealed: 50-41

Hotelier Middle East Staff, September 29th, 2010

Today marks the unveiling of the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 – the fifty biggest, boldest and most influential names attached to the hospitality industry in the Middle East today.

We will be releasing 10 names a day on hoteliermiddleeast.com with the complete list coming as a supplement in October's edition of Hotelier Middle East.

Enjoy going through the list and we are certain everyone will have their own opinions on who should be in the list, so leave your comments on who and why you think your choices that didn't make it in should be there.

Gordon Campbell Gray
chairman
Campbell Gray Hotels

Gordon Campbell Gray takes the final spot in the Power 50 for his vision in recognising the potential of Beirut as a hot hotel destination. Against the warnings of analysts, Campbell Gray started developing his hotel in Beirut four and half years ago and Le Gray opened at the end of 2009 to critical acclaim.

Now the favoured destination of celebrities from Mick Jagger to Christian Louboutin, the hotel has put Beirut as a destination back on the map and created demand for further hotels in the region from Campbell Gray, who also runs two hotels in London and one in Antigua.

Such is his passion for Beirut that Campbell Gray has now moved there from London and he is currently developing plans for a beach resort in Lebanon at the Damour Project, a coastal city 25km south of Beirut.

Abdul Aziz Al-Emadi
Chief Executive Officer
Dohaland Hospitality

Another new entry to the Power 50 2010 is Dohaland Hospitality CEO Abdul Aziz Al-Emadi, who has already signed up Mandarin Oriental to operate a luxury hotel as part of the Musheireb – Heart of Doha — development.

Dohaland Hospitality was launched by Dohaland in just June of this year with the mandate to establish a leading hotel management company capable of managing properties globally.

Since then, the firm has also announced a joint venture to introduce the Premier Inn brand to Qatar in the form of a 200-room hotel at Doha Education City.

Al-Emadi brings 20 years of experience to the role, with previous positions including general manager at the first local hotel brand in Qatar, Merweb Hotel, and at the Ritz-Carlton Sharq Village & Spa. Most recently he was CEO of Barwa Hotels & Resorts, and is also known for his role as accommodation advisor for Doha Asian Games Organising Committee back in 2006.

Construction on Dohaland signature project Musheireb started in January 2010, with phase one due for completion by 2012 and the entire project by 2016. The Mandarin Oriental is expected to open in 2014.

Uwe Micheel
Director of kitchens
Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek

Chef Uwe Micheel is one of the most respected chefs in the UAE, dedicated to both the 16 outlets at Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, where he has worked for 16 years, and to developing the F&B industry through his role as president of the Emirates Culinary Guild.

In both positions, Chef Uwe also works closely with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), supporting initiatives such as Shopping Festival and Summer Surprises. And even though Radisson Blu on the Creek is the oldest five-star hotel in town, Chef Uwe’s culinary innovations and promotions have helped keep the property at the top of Dubai’s increasingly competitive restaurant scene.

An inspiration to young chefs across the UAE, Chef Uwe’s achievements over the years have led to him being awarded Chef of the Year in the Hotelier Middle East Awards 2009 and the Caterer Middle East Awards 2009, and now he is the first chef to enter the Power 50.

Rochelle Kilgariff
General Manager
Six Senses Zighy Bay

Rochelle Kilgariff may have only been in the Middle East for a few years but in that time she has played a major role in putting Six Senses on the map in the region and establishing the previously little known area of Musandam in Oman as a must-visit destination.

As the first female GM to be appointed by Six Senses a few years back, when she ran the flagship Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, Kilgariff is a stellar example of the brand’s key pillars of providing a personalised experience, protecting the environment and incorporating the local community.

Currently more than a third of the team are Omani nationals totalling 73 hosts, with Kilgariff working closely with the National Hospitality Institute in Oman to provided training programmes and future jobs.

The success of the resort, which has won a multitude of awards, means there are now plans for Tented Camps at Zighy — the first of its kind from Six Senses — and a Six Senses Destination Spa on a plateau above the resort.

Sadly, Kilgariff is leaving her role this year, but hopes to return to the region in the future.

Jonathan Worsley
chairman
Bench Events

During his tenure as chairman of Beach Events and as a board director of STR Global, Jonathan Worsley has overseen the growth of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) and facilitated much-needed networking for those at the top of the industry.

The event’s ever growing loyal audience has been crowned with some high profile patrons in HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, HRH Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and winner of the 2010 AHIC Leadership Award, HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.

Worsley is currently preparing the agenda for AHIC 2011 in partnership with a 40-strong advisory board.

He has also added another event to the Bench Events’ portfolio, the Central Asia & Turkey Hotel Investment Conference being held for the first time in Istanbul next February.

Pam Wilby
Complex General Manager
Grosvenor House Dubai and Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort and Spa

Pam Wilby, a stalwart of the regional hotel industry and one of its first female GMs, manages a combined team of more than 1000 people across two different hotels.

She is general manager of one of Dubai’s oldest hotels, Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort and Spa, as well as the newer Grosvenor House Dubai in Dubai Marina. The hotels offer some of the most vibrant F&B outlets in the city, thanks to partnerships with world famous brand Buddha Bar and celebrity chef Gary Rhodes, who recently opened his second restaurant at the complex.

The Starwood hotels are set to become an increasingly dominant force in 2011 with the opening of a long-delayed but hotly anticipated second tower at Grosvenor House, again the responsibility of Wilby. With her achievements so far including the elevation of Grosvenor House to The Luxury Collection status, the wait is most likely to be worth it.

Ron Hilvert
Managing Director
Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management

For establishing the region’s first world-class hospitality college and being one of the most well-connected hoteliers we know, Ron Hilvert ranks number 43 in this year’s Power 50.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Hilvert has continually developed the offering at the college and this year introduces for the first time an MSc in International Hospitality Management.

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management’s (EAHM) long term impact on the sector will be best judged in years to come when its graduates will no doubt appear on Hotelier’s Power 50 list.

Hilvert’s own career started 42 years ago with him working as a bellboy at the Hotel Schwarzer Bock in Weisbaden, Germany. Several roles later and his potential was recognised by former president of Hyatt, Bernd Chorengel, who appointed him vice president of the company aged just 32.

Richard Weilers
managing director
Southern Sun Middle East

Southern Sun’s Richard Weilers has earned his debut in the Power 50 2010 following his successful establishment of the brand in the Middle East and North Africa and the ongoing expansion strategy.

Currently, there are nine Southern Sun hotels operating in Africa and the Middle East — two in the Seychelles, two in Dubai, and one each in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. Upcoming properties include a 350-room hotel in Abu Dhabi, owned by United Group, scheduled to open end 2012/early 2013, and a 390-room hotel and serviced apartments in Jeddah. Weilers is also investigating opportunities in Oman, Qatar and Libya.

In addition to seeking out new contracts, Southern Sun has signed a master agreement with Emaar — owner of the two Dubai hotels — to manage future Emaar four-star deluxe properties following the performance of the flagships.

Future hotels will have a tough act to follow —Al Manzil is now ranked five out of 391 hotels in Dubai on TripAdvisor and number one for business.

Talal Jassim Al-Bahar
Vice Chairman and CEO
IFA Hotels & Resorts

The driving force behind Kuwait-based IFA Hotels & Resorts’ global expansion, Talal Jassim Al-Bahar led the company through its listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in January 2006, and the subsequent creation and listing of its South African subsidiary on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in February of the same year.

Under Al-Bahar’s leadership, the company, a specialist in the development of premier integrated and mixed-use hotel and tourism resorts, has tripled in size and expanded its reach to North America, Europe, Asia and further into Africa.

In the Middle East, IFA has secured strategic alliances and joint venture partnerships with companies such as Kingdom Hotel Investments and works with upscale brands such as Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Kempinski Hotels, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts.

Over the past 12 months, IFA has opened its first hotel in Lebanon, Four Seasons Hotel Beirut, announced the development of the Kempinski Residences in Alabadiyah Hills — its branded freehold resort in Lebanon — opened the US $223 million Fairmont Zimbali in South Africa, and added apartments and a Private Residence Club to its Laguna Tower in Dubai. Both products will be managed by the onsite Mövenpick Hotel & Residence Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

Helmut Meckelburg
chief executive officer
Safir Hotels and Resorts

Helmut Meckelburg has made his mark on the Power 50 2010 at number 41, following just over a year in his current role at the helm of Kuwait Hotels Company subsidiary Safir Hotels and Resorts.

With 30 years’ experience and a host of awards under his belt, Meckelburg was appointed in June 2009 and charged with the task of re-energising the brand, improving financial performance and implementing the company’s ambitious expansion plans in the Middle East.

Safir Hotels & Resorts currently manages a portfolio of hotels in Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Algeria, with projects under development in Morocco, Oman, UAE, Sudan and Iran.

At Arabian Travel Market earlier this year, Meckelburg announced that the group was intensifying its plans to develop 40 new hotels by 2015.