Manus Cranny

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
Manus Cranny
Anchor
Bloomberg

Manus Cranny is the co-anchor of Bloomberg Daybreak: Middle East & Daybreak Europe. He brings 20 years exposure to Global markets, finance and media.

His insight and knowledge built across markets from Futures & Options, Equities, Foreign exchange ,Oil & Commodities drives the Global Coverage.

Cranny has interviewed global business & political leaders Bill Gates Microsoft Co Founder, Cyril Ramaphosa President of South Africa, UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti, and Barclays CEO Jes Staley , a host of oil industry CEOS Total, Shell, ENI , Equinor and BP.

In Middle East Agenda moves at Speed & Manus has access to the political and business elite across the region, HE Anwar Gargash Minister Foreign Affairs, CEO Mubabala Khaldoon Al Mubarak, SABIC CEO Yousef Al-Benyan.

Manus began his career as commodity trader, honed his institutional skills at First Chicago Bank (now part of JP Morgan Chase) & Cantor Fitzgerald.

Cranny received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Queen’s University Belfast.

Sameer Hashmi

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
Sameer Hashmi
Middle East Business Correspondent
BBC News

Sameer Hashmi is the BBC’s Middle East Business Correspondent based in Dubai. He reports on business, geopolitics & technology from the Gulf region. Sameer took up the role in November 2019 and since then he has reported on a range of stories from the impact Covid-19 on the region to the historic UAE-Israel peace deal and the escalating tension between Iran and its neighbours. Sameer was one of the first international correspondents to interview Anwar Gargash, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs after the UAE-Israel peace deal was announced. He also presents Talking Business – BBC’s flagship business program from Dubai.

Prior to taking up the role in Dubai, Sameer was the BBC’s India Business correspondent based in Mumbai for nearly 8 years. During his stint – he fronted all major business & economic stories from the region, and also reported on key political, social and sport stories. He has covered the Indian national elections in 2009, 2014 & 2019, the Mumbai bomb blast in 2011 & the earthquake in Indonesia in 2018. He has interviewed CEOs of top global companies, ministers, policy-makers & actors including Richard Branson, Nikki Haley, Raghuram Rajan & Priyanka Chopra.

He was also the presenter of India’s Game-Changers series, which aired on the BBC in 2018. The show won the Asian Academy Creative Award for the best current affairs programme about India in 2019. He was also the Relief Presenter of India Business Report – a weekly 30 minute show that used to air on BBC World News until 2016.

Sameer joined the BBC in 2012, prior to which he worked with the Times of India Group in several positions.

Marc Descrozaille

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
Marc Descrozaille
COO
Accor Hotels, India, Middle East & Africa

Marc Descrozaille holds an MBA in International Hospitality Management in Paris from Cornell-Essec and is also a graduate of Lausanne Hotel School.

Prior to his appointment, Marc most recent role was President, Middle East and Africa, for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts and he was responsible for over 50 hotels of the largest single brand in the region.

In his role, Marc oversees 191 hotels across all brands in India, the Gulf (excl KSA) and Sub-Saharan Africa, with an active pipeline of 118 hotels.

With more than 20 years of experience across a broad spectrum of disciplines in Africa (based in Cape Town), Europe and the Middle East, he worked for leading hospitality companies, including Radisson Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels and the Savoy Group (Claridge’s Hotel London). It was during his time with the Radisson Group that strong ambitions for Africa were realized and Marc led this vision for accelerated growth by opening 20 hotels in the region within a three-year span.

Marc’s operational experience is complemented by an intuitive understanding of finance, food & beverage in addition to working as a consultant at the very start of his career for KPMG, providing market and feasibility studies for upscale hotel projects and leisure concepts in Europe.

Danielle Curtis

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
Danielle Curtis
Exhibition Director
Middle East Arabian Travel Market
Reed Travel Exhibitions

Danielle Curtis was appointed regional Exhibition Director for the Middle East for Arabian Travel Market in 2019.

Curtis took on the overall responsibility for ATM and all associated travel projects throughout the region.

Originally from Australia, Curtis has over 15 years’ experience within the events industry, including extensive knowledge of Reed Travel Exhibitions’ portfolio of events.

Prior to her accepting her latest role, Curtis was events manager for IBTM Arabia following her position as contract exhibition manager for Arabian Travel Market, where she had responsibility for the event’s strategy for the international travel and tourism showcase. Prior to that, she was Global Head of Sales for Reed’s IBTM portfolio of shows and has also worked on other hospitality-related exhibitions in the Middle East.

Curtis joined a team of accomplished travel industry veterans, and her expertise has further cement the wealth of travel trade knowledge and event experience in the WTM portfolio.

H.E. Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani

ITIC 2018 Advisory Board
H.E. Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
Kingdom of Bahrain

H.E. Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani was appointed Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in December 2014.

Prior to his appointment, Alzayani led his family business as the chairman of Alzayani Investments, Euro Motors, Zayani Motors, Zayani Leasing, Zayani Properties, Alzayani Industries and Orient Motors.

In addition, he also served as the Managing Director of First Motors and Chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) until 2016.

Alzayani graduated from Boston University, where he received his MBA in Finance and was a former Board Member of Boston University International Advisory Board.

Alzayani currently serves as the Chairman of Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority and was recently appointed Chairman of Gulf Air Board in April 2017.

His Excellency sits on the boards of the Economic Development Board (EDB), Gulf Aviation Academy, Bahrain Airport Company and the Business Family Network as well as acting as the Minister in charge of Bahrain Bourse from 2016. He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Priyanka Kapoor

Priyanka Kapoor
Group Director – Sales, Marketing, Branding and Communications
Swiss-Belhotel International

Priyanka Kapoor, Group Director & Senior Regional Director EMEA for Sales, Marketing, Branding and Communications at Swiss-Belhotel International, holds over 20 years of outstanding experience in the Hospitality and Airlines industry working with leading brands such as Hyatt Hotels and Jet Airways. Currently at Swiss-Belhotel International, with a portfolio of 145 hotels and projects, she is responsible for sales, marketing and revenue growth strategies at a Group level while managing the requirements of EMEA region more closely.

In keeping with the market trends, Priyanka leads the team with innovative ideas while consolidating the company goals with the ever-changing market situations and expectations of clients and owners.

She is a Certified Revenue Management Executive (CRME) through HSMAI and holds a diploma in Executive MBA in Global Ivy League curriculum, from Emeritus Institute, Singapore.

Laurent A. Voivenel

Laurent A. Voivenel
Senior Vice President – Operations and Development
Europe Middle East, Africa and India

Laurent A. Voivenel is the Senior Vice President – Operations and Development, Europe Middle East, Africa and India, and Senior Vice President – Group Human Resources and Talent Development for Swiss-Belhotel International. 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 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.

Speakers

ITIC Speaker
H.E. Mr. Nayef Hmeidi Al-Fayez
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities
Jordan more…
ITIC Speaker
Dr. Taleb Rifai
Chairman ITIC & Former Secretary General
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) more…
ITIC Speaker
H.E. Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal
Executive Chairman
Sharjah Investment and Development Authority more…
ITIC Speaker
H.E. Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry
Chairman
Ajman Tourism Development Department more…
ITIC Speaker
Paul Griffiths
CEO
Dubai Airports more…
ITIC Speaker
Gerald Lawless
Chairman ITIC &
WTTC Ambassador more…
ITIC Speaker
Nicolas Mayer
PWC Industry Leader Hospitality and Tourism EMEA
Managing Partner Global Center of Excellence Tourism & Hospitality more…
ITIC Speaker
Nikolina Angelkova
Former Minister of Tourism
Bulgaria more…
ITIC Speaker
Scott Livermore
Chief Economist
Oxford Economics Middle East more…
ITIC Speaker
Raki Phillips
Chief Executive Officer
Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority more…
ITIC Speaker
Danielle Curtis
Exhibition Director
Middle East Arabian Travel Market

Reed Travel Exhibitions more…
ITIC Speaker
Marc Descrozaille
COO
Accor Hotels, India, Middle East & Africa more…
ITIC Speaker
Dinky Puri
Founding Partner
Eagle Wing Group more…
ITIC Speaker
Sameer Hashmi
Middle East Business Correspondent
BBC News more…
ITIC Speaker
Manus Cranny
Anchor
Bloomberg more…
ITIC Speaker
Mark Abraham
Founder & CEO
Shackle more…
ITIC Speaker
Bastien Blanc
Managing Director
KSA and Bahrain, IHG more…
ITIC Speaker
Sharihan Al Mashary
Master of Ceremony
ITIC – Middle East more…

Yariv Fisher

Yariv Fisher
entrepreneur and expert in the JCC
co-founder and chairman of Flyeast
and Global Remit companies

Yariv Fisher, entrepreneur and expert in the JCC, co-founder and chairman of Flyeast and Global Remit companies.

Flyeast is Israel’s principal aviation and tourism company, with a vast global operation in south East Asia.

Global Remit is one of the leading Fintech and Trade Company at the Israeli market, representing several banks and fintech.

Scott Livermore

Scott Livermore
Chief Economist
Oxford Economics Middle East

Scott Livermore is the Chief Economist of Oxford Economics Middle East and based in Oxford’s Dubai office. He is also Managing Director of Consultancy in the Middle East and Asia, as well as a member of Oxford Economics’ Senior Management Team. Scott leads many of the major projects in the GCC and Asia which have recently included capacity building, macroeconomic modelling, and policy impact assessment engagements for government institutions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, and IFRS 9 and Stress Testing engagements in Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

After completing a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, and an MSc in Economics at University College London, Scott joined Oxford Economic Forecasting in 1997. During his initial five years at OEF, he worked as a country analyst for a number of European countries and participated in numerous consultancy projects for a variety of international organisations, governments and multinational companies using both Oxford Economics’ Global Economic Model and bespoke economic models.

Scott rejoined Oxford Economics in 2005 as a senior economist after spending two years at the Ministry of Finance in the Slovak Republic assisting with the government’s medium-term macroeconomic framework and developing the analytical capacity of the ministry to prepare such forecasts. He has also held the positions of Managing Director of Macro and Industry Services, Managing Director of Macro Consulting, and COO of Oxford Economics USA.