Watch the full Summit.

Morning Conversation

Economic Outlook

One-to-one Interview with Issam Kazim

What the Future of Hotels look like? And What is the New ‘Normal’ for Hotels and Hospitality?

Presentation of a successful sustainable tourism development

Promoting gender equality in the Middle East tourism industry

Investment Panel: Changes brought to encourage public-private investment initiatives in sustainable tourism projects in the Middle East

Presentation: China-Middle East Tourism partnership during and post Covid19

Analysing the impact and challenges of digital transformation in the Travel and Tourism industry

Capital Raising for Start-ups

Closing

Welcome Remarks

The evolving economic landscape of the Middle East and the emerging challenges and opportunities in the Travel and Tourism Sector

To what extent will sustainability reorient the Middle East tourism industry?

Travel Industry Outlook
When is the travel industry expected to recover and bounce back to pre-Covid 19 levels?

Prospects for investment in the Middle East hotel industry

Investment Opportunities

Closing

Eddie Taylor is Editorial Director of Arabian Business and is a journalist and editor with more than 25 years’ experience.

He has deployed his skills in a number of tourism-related fields, from editing the inflight magazine for Royal Jordanian Airlines for almost a decade to, helping to articulate a new strategy for the Jordan Tourism Board and overseeing a major content project for Emirates.

Education, Qualifications, Memberships:

• Graduate (1981)
  Wirtschaftsaufbau Schule Friedrich List Munich – A – Level


• Graduate (1982)
  Hotel School Kermess in Munich


• Apprenticeship at Munich Hilton with graduation at Chamber of Commerce and Industry Munich (1982 – 1985)
  Hotel Administration and Management
  German Hotelkauffrau


• Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
  Various leadership and technical trainings during 1992 – 1995 With Hilton International


• CDI – Hilton Career Development Institute (1996)


• Asset Management and High Perfomance Financial Course(2006) Cornell University


• Owners Relationship and Asset Management Programme January 2017 – Presented & Conducted by Cornell University


• The Enabling Leader Program by Myles Downey, Executive Coach – July 2017

work experience

• August 2020 – Present   THE LANGHAM, LONDON
  Managing Director & Regional Vice President – Operations Europe and Middle East


• April 2018 – August 2020   Sheikh Suroor bin Mohammed Al Nahyan Private Office
  Abu Dhabi, UAE
  Hotel Asset Manager for 7 Hotels in his portfolio 5 Rotana properties in UAE, Jordan and 2 Hotels Managed by Jumeirah Group UAE.
  
  Responsible for 1.4 Billion AED annual Revenue And various refurbishment Projects in a value of 120 Million AED


• Since February 2018   Dussmann Co&KGaA
  Berlin
  Member of the Board of Trustees


• September 2016 – February 2018   JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Senior Vice President Operations – MEASA


• October 2014 – September 2016  JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Regional Vice President – Europe
  General Manager, Jumeirah Frankfurt


• February 2010 – September 2014  JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  General Manager
  Jumeirah at Etihad Towers – Abu Dhabi


• August 2008 – January 2010   DIFC Investments LLC
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Chief Operating Officer – City Operations


• September 2007 – April 2008  JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Shanghai, PRC
  General Manager
  Jumeirah HanTang Xintiandi


• April 2004 – August 2007   JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  General Manager
  Jumeirah Emirates Towers


• August 2003 – March 2004   JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  General Manager Operations


• August 2000 – August 2003   JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  General Manager
  Jumeirah Beach Club Resort and Spa


• January 1999 – August 2000   JUMEIRAH GROUP
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Rooms
  Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai


• 1996 – 1999   HILTON INTERNATIONAL
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Area Director, Front Office
  Operations Middle East & Africa
  Dubai, UAE


• 1990 – 1996   HILTON INTERNATIONAL
  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Director of Front Office & Sales Operations
  Dubai Hilton and Hilton Beach Club


• 1982 – 1989   HILTON INTERNATIONAL
  Munich, Germany
  Various Front Office roles

A digital leader with 20+ year experience in designing technology systems for hospitality at scale. Founder, and currently Chief Technology Officer at Nevaya—leading the architecture of the company’s hospitality cloud platform; and defining its technology and innovation strategy. Nevaya is the hospitality SaaS platform for Casting, TV, WiFi & Mobile; and Cloud based technology for hotels & hospitality.

Built and created the case for cloud technology in hospitality, and continues to build solutions that require minimal capital expenditure. Pioneered, designed, developed and launched the first cloud native IPTV system for hospitality in 2009.

Responsible for a number of white label hospitality projects for large industry household names in America, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Australia — from International & Regional luxury Hotels and Hotel Chains to exclusive Boutique.

A few highlights include the first ever (and currently only) cloud native Google Chromecast platform for hospitality, an entirely cloud based IPTV system for hospitality, hospitality gateways to enable previously silent systems to communicate, an HSIA product for Amazon’s kindle.

Previously, responsible for Nevaya’s own custom Linux distribution for hospitality. Enjoy solving complex problems and am happy to engage at board level all the way through to bits and bytes.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has been the Managing Director of the Centre International de Développement Pharmaceutique (CIDP) Research and Innovation as well as Professor of Organic Chemistry with an endowed chair at the University of Mauritius. Since 2001, she has served successively as Dean of the Faculty of Science and Pro Vice Chancellor (2004- 2010). She has also worked at the Mauritius Research Council as Manager for Research (1995-1997).

Ms Gurib-Fakim earned a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Surrey (1983) and a PhD from the University of Exeter, UK (1987). During her academic journey, she has participated in several consultation meetings on environmental issues organized by international organizations. Between 2011-2013, she was elected and served as Chairperson of the International Council for Scientific Union – Regional Office for Africa, and served as an Independent Director on the Board of Barclays Bank of Mauritius Ltd between (2012-2015).

As a Founding Member of the Pan African Association of African Medicinal Plants, she co-authored the first ever African Herbal Pharmacopoeia. She has authored and co-edited 30 books, several book chapters and scientific articles in the field of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. She has lectured extensively across the world; is a Member of the Editorial Boards of major journals, has served on Technical and national committees in various capacities. Elevated to the Order of the Commander of the Star and Key by the Government of Mauritius in 2008, she has been admitted to the Order of the Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the Government of France in 2010 and is the recipient of 5 DSc (s).

Elected Fellow of several academies and societies, Ms Gurib-Fakim received several international prizes including the 2007 l’Oreal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, the African Union Commission Award for Women in Science, 2009.

On 05 June 2015, she was sworn in as the 6^th President and the First Female President of the Republic of Mauritius and served in that capacity until March 2018.

She was elevated to the Order of GCSK by the Government of Mauritius, and received the Legion d’Honneur from the Government of France in 2016. In 2017,

she received both the lifelong achievement award of the United States Pharmacopoeia-CePat Award and the American Botanical Council Norman Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award. In 2018, she received the Order of St George at the Semperopernball, Dresden, Germany. In 2019, she received the ‘Trailblazing award for political leadership’ by the World Women Leaders Council in Iceland. In 2020, she was elected Honorary President of the International and Engineering Institute and received their 2020 5^th IETI Annual Scientific Award. She also received the IAS-COMSTECH Ibrahim Memorial Award from the WIAS in Jordan. In 2021, she received the Benazir Bhutto Lifetime Achievement Award and appointed Distinguished Professor at the John Wesley School of Leadership at Carolina University, USA.

In June 2016, she was in the Forbes List for the 100 ‘Most Powerful women in the world’ and 1st among the Top 100 Women in Africa Forbes List 2017, 2019. She is honoured as one of Foreign Policy’s 2015 Global Thinkers.