Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer graduated from Dubai Men’s College with a Bachelor degree in Business Information Technology. In 2002 he started his career at The Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat) in the Government & Corporate Segment and worked as Senior Sales Support and Senior Sales Executive for 4 years.

In 2006, Ahmed joined the Al Qasba Development Authority as a Business Development Manager and was promoted to Director of Business Development in 2008, forming an integral part of the team that transformed Al Qasba into the reputed and popular leisure and tourism destination it is today.

Following his highly successful track record with Al Qasba, Al Qaseer played a key role in the establishment of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), where he held to the position of Director of Property Management in 2010, where he was in charge of property, as well as the operations, sales and leasing. Since then he has been promoted to become Shurooq’s Chief Operating Officer in 2011, and in this capacity is responsible for the operational execution of all of Shurooq’s projects and destinations.

Shurooq was established in 2009 with the aim of achieving social, cultural, environmental and economic development on the basis of Sharjah’s distinct Arab and Islamic identity, and to encourage investment by adopting the best international standards in providing quality services that help attract investors from the region and the world. Shurooq’s key mission is to provide facilities and incentives to help overcome obstacles facing investment activities in the Emirate, evaluate tourism and investment related infrastructure projects, and lay down the necessary plans to complete such projects.

H.E. Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi has been named the Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs under the new UAE Government structure approved in July 2020. Under this role, H.E. Dr. Al Falasi is at the fore of designing national initiatives to strengthen the UAE’s small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, one of the engines of the national economy, and promote entrepreneurship in various industries. He is also tasked to set a strategic direction and develop a general national policy for the country’s tourism sector.

Before his present position, he was the Minister of State for Higher Education during which he supervised the development of higher education and scientific research in the UAE. He also formulated new policies for the sector as well as streamlined the work of higher education institutions to ensure quality outputs that match the requirements of the labour market. In October 2017, pursuant to the ministerial amendment to the UAE Government, he took on the responsibility of equipping UAE nationals with skills of the future.

He is also the former Chairman of the Federal Authority for Human Resources and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Space Agency. He represented the space sector at the National Committee for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Other positions he previously held included CEO of Masdar Company; Executive Director of Strategy and Tourism Sector Development at Dubai Tourism; Vice President of the Mubadala Industry Unit; and Consultant for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

H.E Dr. Al Falasi holds a PhD from Monash University, a Master’s degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Engineering from Khalifa University in the UAE.

Alison has over 25 years of experience working with the hospitality industry; Extensively travelled, she has worked in over 30 countries covering Europe, United States and Middle East/Africa. Alison comes from a strong financial background, with a BSc in Economics and an ACA Chartered Accountancy Qualification. She started her career with Andersen in the UK and US, moving to PwC in 2001.

Alison moved to the Middle East in 2012 from PwC London to help establish and develop PwC’s Middle East Hospitality and Leisure practice into a leader in its field.

Alison joined RAK Hospitality Holding in 2016 as CFO overseeing the Group’s Finance and Treasury functions.

In 2019 Alison was promoted to CEO responsible for the Group’s established businesses covering Hotel ownership, Hospitality Logistics, and Asset Management and Advisory Services, as well as the newly formed RAK Leisure subsidiary with a focus on developing F&B and Leisure activities across Ras Al Khaimah, and in particular on Jebel Jais Mountain.

Laurent A. Voivenel manages dual responsibility as the Senior Vice President, Operations & Development for Middle East, Africa & India for Swiss-Belhotel International, spearheading the group’s expansion in the region; and as Senior Vice President, Group Human Resources and Talent Development, ensuring the employee welfare throughout the Group. He holds over 30 years of extensive international hotel and asset management experience with some of the world’s leading and most prestigious hospitality brands including Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Prior

Prior to joining Swiss-Belhotel, Laurent was the Chief Executive Officer of HMH – Hospitality Management Holding for over three and a half years and was the primary driving force behind repositioning HMH as the Middles East’s largest and most credible operator in the dry segment while setting in motion aggressive expansion.

With a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Laurent has a proven track record in areas of corporate mergers and acquisitions, hotel development and investment, multi-brand operations, as well as outstanding management experience across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Being based in the Middle East for the last 18 years, Laurent also has a deep understanding of the region’s unique business dynamics and culture that has resulted in a solid network and close ties with hotel owners, developers and investors.

H.E. Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa is President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. She previously served as Minister of Culture from 2010 to 2014, Minister of Culture and Information from 2008 to 2010, and Assistant Undersecretary for Culture and National Heritage at the Ministry of Information.

She was listed as One of the 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World by Forbes magazine in 2008. She was awarded the Watch Award by the World Monument Fund in 2015 – the first Arab personality to receive the award – in recognition of the singular role she has played in the preservation and protection of culture and heritage in Bahrain. In 2017 she was made Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Sheikha Mai has published a number of books and articles including Charles Belgrave: Biography and Diary (The Arab Publication Establishment, 2000), 100 Years of Education in Bahrain: The Early Years of Establishment (The Arab Publication Establishment, 1999), Mohammed Bin Khalifa 1813–1890: The Legend and the Parallel History (Shaikh Ebrahim Center for Culture & Research, 2014) and The Qarmations: From Concept to State (Shaikh Ebrahim Center for Culture & Research, 2019), among others. She received a master’s in political history from Sheffield University, United Kingdom.

Sheikha Mai is the founder of the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research, and President of its Board of Directors. An NGO that was established in Muharraq in 2002, the Centre has since hosted over 500 speakers, philosophers, poets and thinkers, who have presented their thoughts in the weekly lecture programme. It has conserved and rehabilitated over 25 traditional Bahraini houses and spearheaded the urban regeneration of the historic city of Muharraq. Under Sheikha Mai’s patronage and leadership the Revitalization of Murrraq received the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Liz Ortiguera is a senior executive with over 25 years of global experience and expertise in general management, marketing, business development, and partner network management. Liz is passionate about innovation, business transformation, and community building.

Her career spans several industries – travel/lifestyle, technology, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. She’s experienced in working in both MNC (American Express and Merck) and startup environments (SaaS, e-commerce, and ed-tech). For 10 years she was the General Manager for Amex’s Travel Partner Network, Asia-Pacific/ANZ managing partnerships with the top TMC, MICE, and leisure agencies in the region. She is able to adeptly work across cultures and business environments to catalyze opportunities and drive growth.

In her personal life, she has been a continual advocate for poverty eradication programs and education initiatives across the region. Liz is an alumna of Stanford University Graduate Business School, Columbia University Business School, New York University, and The Cooper Union in New York.

Marloes is the visionary who has established Kerten Hospitality as a disruptive, dynamic international hospitality group dedicated to the management of mixed-use developments in global destinations.

She has successfully grown the organization’s operational and pipeline portfolio from one brand in one country to 11 aspirational lifestyle-driven concepts in 35 development projects across 3 continents.

Her industry journey started with Hilton where she held senior operational and commercial management positions for over a decade. She sits on a number of industry boards and supports the Sustainability Hospitality Challenge as a co-chair of the global initiative

Sandeep Walia is the Chief Operating Officer for Marriott International in the Middle East. With over 25 years of international experience in the hotel industry, Sandeep is currently responsible for the operations of Marriott’s properties in the Middle East (including Egypt and Turkey) which features over 190 operational properties and more than 100 properties in its pipeline.

Sandeep is a seasoned hospitality professional with strategic business acumen driven to deliver operational and financial excellence to create market leading returns and establish mutually beneficial partnerships and relationships with stakeholders.

A dynamic and result-oriented leader, he is adept at building and nurturing high performance teams guiding and motivating them towards setting and achieving visionary goals by effectively aligning company values with key business initiatives and brand experiences.

Sandeep joined Marriott International in 2005. Prior to his current role, Sandeep was the Area Vice President for the United Arab Emirates and overlooked the operation of the company’s largest market in the Middle East. Before taking on his role in the UAE, he was the Area Vice President – Luxury Brands for Western Europe, overseeing the company’s luxury portfolio across Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, the UK and all BVLGARI hotels in Europe.

Having worked for brands across Asia (India), Middle East, Africa and Europe, Sandeep has a global mindset and a key understanding of the consumer landscape and their evolving needs and aspirations.

Sandeep’s other key accomplishments include an Executive MBA from the Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University, a degree in Leadership from Harvard Business School and a post-graduate from the Oberoi Center of Learning and Development.

Of Indian origin, Sandeep currently resides in Dubai and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization.

Fiona Ngesa is a destination-marketing specialist with over 16 years’ experience in the tourism industry. She is well accomplished and educated to help destinations design marketing campaigns that drive tourism in ways that are authentic and sustainable, as well as profitable and growth-oriented.

With her Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) & a Masters degree in International Tourism & Leisure Management from Stenden University in the Netherlands, Fiona knows what it takes to drive traffic to new destinations.

She is currently the Ag. Director for Market Development at the Kenya Tourism Board where she is responsible for leading the development & implementation of the business & market development strategy in collaboration with stakeholders in Kenya and in the source markets.

She is also a Maxwell Leadership expert and loves to help others in the tourism industry achieve results in a sustainable, & values-driven way. She is a mother of two. When she is not working, you are likely to find her reading a book or exploring a new destination. She lives in Nairobi, Kenya and is a proud advocate for tourism in Kenya & East Africa on the global stage.