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HospitalityTech
will host a prestigious
roster of distinguished
speakers from all over
the globe. They will
be chosen for their
leadership and innovation
within their corporation,
as well as for their
ability to deliver a
timely and pertinent
message to our attendees.
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Hamad Mohammed Bin Mejren
Executive Director (Business Tourism Sector)
Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) |
 Hamad M Bin Mejren (born in Dubai on 4th April 1967) is a US graduate with two degrees in Business Administration, Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Science.
Since he joined the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in February, 1996 (13 years) he held key positions in the department in Overseas Promotions and in Inwards Missions departments. Currently, he is the Executive Director of Business Tourism Sector, which consists of Dubai Convention Bureau and Cruise Terminal.
Dubai Convention Bureau:
The Dubai Convention Bureau (DCB) is part of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), a non-profit government funded organization that is committed to further development of Dubai’s share of the International MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Congress, Exhibitions) market, whilst maximizing the economic prospects of Dubai.
DCB is dedicated to pursue and win events for Dubai and to promote Dubai both nationally and internationally as a leading MICE destination.
Cruise Terminal:
The Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid is operated by the Department of Tourism, Cruise tourism plays a crucial role in the overall growth and development of the tourism industry in Dubai, there has been an impressive growth in cruise tourist arrivals since the start of the Dubai Cruise Terminal. In addition the terminal houses offices for representatives from other government bodies such as immigrations, Dubai Port Authority and Customs to ensure safe and swift services for the passengers and cruises. |
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Mr. Samir Abi Frem
Corporate VP-Information Technology
Rotana |
 Mr. Samir Abi Frem is a professional executive who graduated with a BS in Computer Science and a Master degree in Hotel Management. He has worked for 10 years with reputable international hotel chain where he built up the company Vision in Technology and formed a very energetic and professional team.
In line with that, he also acquired a remarkable multinational experience in In-room technology, System Automation and Integrated Internal Process in the service industry.
As the Corporate VP-Information Technology (Rotana) he is responsible in developing project plans to implement various hospitality software and hardware to the Hotels. He performs IT Standard reviews against the company’s standards and international norms of IT Systems security to ensure that IT Operations are performing at the highest level of efficiency and security.
And with his extensive background in hotel and Information Technology management, he enforces high IT standards that are essential to successful hotel management. |
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Kyle
Stubbs
Telecommunication and
Core Services Manager
Accor Asia Pacific |
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Kyle
Stubbs is known
for taking an
unorthodox approach
to IT&T. A
trade based Telecommunications
Engineer she possesses
a litany of technical
qualifications
and ‘coal
face’ experience.
This, teamed with
a paradoxical
set of skills
including a Degree
in Fine Arts and
Marketing, make
her extremely
capable of lateral
and abstract thought.
Kyle grew up in
a small village
called Bombala
in Australia’s
Snowy Mountains
(yes there is
snow in Australia!)
where practical
skills were required
on a daily basis
to compensate
for the lack of
modern conveniences.The
dearth of technology
lead
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to
increasing curiosity
and the pull towardsTelecommunication
was inevitableKyle
amongst other
things spent nine
years with Hilton
Hotel group prior
to her role with
Accor Hotel group
where she has
been for five
years. Facilitating
communications
is her passion
and after 12 years
in the field,
Kyle is known
as "The Fixer".
She has also been
known to advise
that sometime
technology is
not the answer,
everything must
be reviewed with
People, Process
and Product in
front of mind,
and with a personal
philosophy that
failure to plan
is planning to
fail she is also
known for her
triage ability.
In her current
role at Accor
Asia Pacific she
is directly responsible
for 190+ Hotels
and Business Units
in Australia/New
Zealand/French
Polynesia/Fiji
and Japan and
a resource to
Asia. With a primary
focus in hospitality
concentrating
on Multi Brand,
Multi Disciplines
Properties from
5 Star to 1 star,
Backpackers, Time
Share, Convention
Centres, Services
Divisions, Loyalty
Programs she has
an incredibly
diverse portfolio
of brands including
- Sofitel, Pullman,
Novotel, Mercure,
All Seasons, Ibis
and Formule 1.
Her cross Divisional
Responsibilities
involve IT&T,
Construction,
and Procurement,
specialising in
design and construct
of internal cable
networks Class
D, E and Fibre,
Installer of TDM
Pabx and IP Pabx
Systems, MATV,
DVOD, HSIA, CCTV,
Access Control,
Digital Signage
,System Peripherals
and Interfaced
equipment such
as Voicemail,
Call Accounting,
IVR, Auto Attendant.
All facets of
mobility, Contract
Negotiations,
Carrier and Vendor
Management Innovation
and solution architecture.
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Mr. Frank Wolfe, CAE
CEO
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) |
 Mr. Wolfe is CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) based in Austin, Texas USA. He joined HFTP in March 1991, and became the association’s CEO in 1994.
During Wolfe's tenure, the association has experienced tremendous growth in its educational programs, membership and certification programs. In addition to the expansion of HITEC® (Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference), the formation of EHTEC (European Hospitality Technology Educational Conference) and the development of GUESTROOM 20X, Wolfe has been crucial to the association’s worldwide brand expansion. The association's revenue has grown from $1.3 million to more than $6 million and its membership now numbers more than 4,800.
Wolfe acts as spokesman for the association and has been interviewed on the topics of hospitality finance and technology for multiple news outlets such as Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, China Morning News and USA Today. He has appeared on four continents to speak about HFTP and topics such as guest room and meetings technology and hospitality finance, as well as authored numerous articles on these topics for industry publications.
Wolfe began his association career with the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) in 1987 as director of education. His accomplishments at TRA included developing association officer and employee training programs, developing and presenting field service sanitation training, and authoring a monthly magazine column. Wolfe also served as a consultant to members on regulatory issues and was a member of several state commissions relating to the foodservice industry.
Wolfe is a graduate of East Tennessee State University where he received a degree in Health Administration and later attended graduate school there in the Counseling and Guidance Program. In 1992, he was awarded the Certified Association Executive designation (CAE), which is the association industry's highest designation.
In August 2000, Wolfe was honored by Lodging magazine by being included in the "75 Profiles in Leadership" edition, a who’s who of 75 individuals who have made major contributions to the hospitality industry. In October of 2002, during HFTP’s 50th anniversary convention, Wolfe was presented the HFTP Paragon Award, for his contributions to both HFTP and to the hospitality industry.
Wolfe is a board member for the International Hotel and Restaurant Association, American Hotel and Lodging Association and the Dean’s Advisory Council Conrad Hilton College University of Houston. He is also a member of the American Society of Association Executives and has served on the board of directors of the Texas Society of Association Executives.
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Dr. Ghassan Aidi
President,
International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) |
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Education:
- 1978: BA in Business Administration from the Sorbonne University in France.
- 1988: PhD. in Management Information Systems
Professional:
- President of Royal Regency International Hotels in Washington, DC (7 Hotels and 2000 rooms)
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- President of Cham Palaces and Hotels (USA, Jordan, Syria).(15 Hotels and +6000 rooms)
- President of International Hotels & Restaurants Association (IH&RA) since 2006 – Re-elected twice.
- Vice president of Arab Union for Hotels and Tourism.
- Chapter presidents council of the American Society of Travel Agents.
- President of Syritel and Egytel..
- Received several award honoring contributions to the Hospitality industry Worldwide specially in sustainable development.
- Member of the Board of Several UN organizations and Associations.
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Mr. Tarek M. Elsherif
Regional Director of Sales & Marketing
Millennium Hotels |
 Born in 1964 in Ithaca, N.Y., USA, Tarek is a dual national American / Egyptian, Graduated from Cairo University with major accounting in 1987 and started his career in the same year with Meridien Cairo Hotel as an Airport Sales representative.
Having passion for Sales & Marketing, Tarek pursued his career with a number of hotel chains like Meridien, Hilton, Sonesta, Starwood, Conrad, Rotana and Millennium Hotels where he is currently the Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for Millennium Hotels in the Middle East.
He has obtained a diploma in Revenue Management from Hilton College in Houston and Certification in Hospitality Marketing Management from Cornell as well as a number of high level trainings in Egypt, USA and UAE.
With more than 20 years of experience working in different countries he was able to learn from different cultures and different business schools to develop him self and his career.
"I see that the future is for technology and we need to adopt our understanding of doing business with the new trends before we are left behind and it is too late", says Tarek Elsherif.
Tarek is married with 3 kids and his best hobbies are reading and collecting stamps.
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Samir
Daqqaq
Vice President Global
Sales, Middle East &
Africa
Marriott International |
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Samir
Daqqaq is Vice
President of the
Marriott Global
Sales Office.
Based in Dubai,
Daqqaq is responsible
for coordinating
and integrating
the work of Marriott
Sales Offices
in the Middle
East and Africa
and creating a
synergy by liaising
with other Marriott
sales teams in
the USA and internationally.
Daqqaq has been
with Marriott
for nearly 30
years and began
this journey at
the Khurais Marriott
Hotel in Saudi
Arabia. He then
moved to the Amman
Marriott Hotel
where he rose
from Front Office
Manager to Director
of Sales &
Marketing. He
held similar positions
in Paris and Warsaw
and was Regional
Director of International
Sales & |
Marketing
for the Northern
California Marriott
properties based
in San Francisco.
In 1986, he was
voted ‘Outstanding
Director of Sales
for Europe and
the Middle East’.Daqqaq
initiated the
Marriott Global
Sales Office and
Reservations Center
in Amman in 1993
and was responsible
for promoting
Marriott and its
products worldwide,
focusing on the
Middle Eastern,
African and Subcontinent
markets. In 1997,
Daqqaq was nominated
for the JW Marriott
Award of Excellence
and in 1998; he
was promoted to
Vice President,
Global Sales where
he established
the USA Global
Sales Organization.
Here, Daqqaq coordinated
the merger of
two offices dealing
with international
sales into one
team. In addition
to holding a Bachelor’s
degree in Hotel
Management, Daqqaq
has over twenty-five
years of intensive
training in all
areas of the hospitality
industry with
specialization
over the last
twenty years in
Sales and Marketing
Management. |
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Leo
Fewtrell
General Manager
Dubai Travel &
Tour Agents Group |
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Leo
was born and raised
in Manchester
and educated at
Xaverian College
and The Silesian
Missionary College
near Macclesfield.
Initially, Leo
worked with Servisair
and then British
Airways at Manchester
Airport before
moving to Saudi
Arabian Airlines
in Dhahran in
1979. Over these
years he has covered
all aspects of
the ground handling
spectrum, including
passenger handling,
mishandled baggage,
catering, cargo,
weight and balance
and flight planning.
Leo has now lived
and worked in
the Middle East
for the past 25
years, including
time in Saudi
Arabia and Oman
as well as Dubai.
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Initially,
Leo worked for
the Inchcape
Group in shipping,
freight forwarding
and travel.
He was responsible
for the overall
travel management
in Oman, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, Sharjah
and Ras Al Khaimah
and his travel
responsibilities
included managing
GSA relationships
with airlines
including British
Airways, Air
India, KLM and
American Airlines
as well as many
others. In 1994
Leo joined The
Emirates Group
as Manager Dnata
World Travel.
He was responsible
for setting
up the Middle
East and West
Asia regions
for Business
Travel International,
(BTI). Leo also
started the
Dnata Holidays,
(Axis Holidays
Worldwide) and
the World of
Events (MICE)
divisions of
the Emirates
group. Over
the years he
has worked closely
with the leading
hotel chains,
travel agencies
and major airlines
and has excellent
relationships
with many of
the senior travel
industry personnel
in the Middle
East. Leo is
married with
6 children and
enjoys playing
both cricket
and golf. We
should add that
he has also
sung on stage
at the La Scala
Opera House
in Milan and
escaped unpunished.
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John Grew RCDD
Managing Director
Spartan Comms Ltd |
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John has worked within the telecommunications industry for 21 years, specialising in providing solutions to the hospitality channel for the last 12 years. He now offers his years of experience as Hospitality Technology Consultant with Spartan Comms around the world to a wide variety of hotel owners and operators. John is asked to speak regularly at Hospitality events globally where he can share his knowledge and experience in new and emerging hotel technologies with the hospitality community. Initially starting his career in Telecoms in 1987, John served his apprenticeship as a Data and Telecoms cabling engineer. |
He continued with his engineering trade working as a cabling contractor for a Telecoms company for 7 years. In March 1995, john founded Spartan Comms, initially offering Project management services for PBX installations. As his expertise within the Hospitality channel increased, the services he could offer were expanded to include cable design and in-room technology applications. During this same period John was also Project Director for a successful Data and Telecoms cabling & installation company. From 1996 to 2005 John designed, implemented and project managed large; cabling, High Speed Internet Access and PBX Installations into many new build and refurbished hotels. Following on from his success in both of these areas, John decided to concentrate his efforts into Spartan Comms. John keeps up to date with the latest developments within the ELV cabling, IP Network and Hotel Technology by being an active member of many UK and global Hospitality and ITC organisations such as: BICSI, HTNG, HFTP & CMA.
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Ian Cole
Vice President of Strategic Technology
Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO) |
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Ian Cole has been the Vice President of Strategic Technology for Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO) since 2005. He is responsible for aligning business and technology strategies as well as identifying and implementing new technologies across the company. He oversees teams responsible for Software Development, Web Technology, Technology Project Management and Enterprise Information Management. Since Mr. Cole joined SVO in 1998 he has been a part of the leadership team that transitioned the company from a small public company to a key division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. |
A member of the Hospitality and Finance Technology Professionals (HFTP), Mr. Cole was named the 2008 Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) of the Year. As Chairman of the American Resort Developers Association (ARDA) Technology Forum, he often speaks on technology topics within the Vacation Ownership industry. He is also frequently asked to speak on topics such as IT Organizational Design and Leadership, Enterprise Information Management (EIM), Business Process Management (BPM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Mr. Cole obtained his B.S. in Computer Science from Florida State University and is currently pursuing his Masters of Business Administration from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.
Starwood Vacation Ownership is one of the premier developers and operators of high-quality vacation ownership resorts. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) and currently operates vacation ownership resorts under the Westin, Sheraton and St. Regis brands in some of the world's most desirable destinations including Hawai‘i, Colorado and the Caribbean.
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Conference
Moderator - Naseem Javed
President
ABC Namebank |
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Naseem
Javed is a highly
respected Moderator
in the GCC, known
for focusing on
the tactical side
of hotly debated
issues of the
day. His writings
are published
almost daily in
publications worldwide.With
his great sense
of humour, Naseem
facilitates engaging
participatory
dialogues. Naseem
is a powerful
voice on global
image positioning
and has personally
created global
name identities
which together
represent a corporate
turnover of $40
billion per annum.
He founded ABC
Namebank International
in Toronto and
New York over
a quarter century
ago. |
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