Lee Tabler, chief executive officer Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) Lee Tabler, chief executive officer Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC)

Lee Tabler
Chief Executive Officer,Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC)

Lee Tabler, the man driving the next phase of Abu Dhabi’s hotel and tourism industry, moves up the rankings in this year’s Power 50.

TDIC is behind some of Abu Dhabi’s most prestigious projects including two major destinations, Saadiyat Island, which will house the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural institutions including the Zayed National Museum, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Desert Islands, to be one of the world’s largest environmentally sustainable tourism destinations.

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So far, five luxury hotels have been announced for Saadiyat Island — Saadiyat Rotana, Shangri-La Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences, St Regis Hotel and Residences and Park Hyatt Resort — with four more brands expected to be signed. St Regis and Park Hyatt will be the first to open, with delivery scheduled for Q3 2010.

Tabler has already overseen the opening of an Anantara resort at Desert Islands and also Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, which has already won several awards.