The prestigious association held its much-awaited event themed as ‘Be Inspired’ at Rajmahal Theatre, located in Dubai Parks & Resorts.
More than 350 hospitality professionals attended the Grand Educational Day filled with inspiring panel discussions by hospitality leaders sharing their insights alongside high profile keynote speaker sessions.
As part of the welcome speech, Abey Sam National President Les Clefs d’Or UAE and also the UICH Zone Director for Arabian & Western Asia spoke about the importance of networking among hospitality associations globally.
Mr. Sanjiv Khosla, Chief Commercial Officer Expo 2020, presented all major updates regarding the World’s Greatest Exhibition which will take place between 20 October 2020 and 10 April 2021 in Dubai.
The highlight of the first educational panel was the presence of Ms. Suhaila Saqer Gobaash, Director Events & Festivals DTCM and Mr. Nijat Aliyev, Board member & Managing Director and Owner’s Representative of Sofitel The Palm Resort. The topic ‘Why Dubai?’ created interesting and engaging discussions for our future leaders to have an outlook on what’s to come for our ever-evolving destination that is Dubai.
The author of ‘Kiss The Rebel’ Mr. Phil Bedford held his highly anticipated networking presentation stating that “True networkers have a deep and broad network. They always know ‘someone who can’ or they can find ‘someone who can’ solve any problem.” He further mentioned that networking is all about following up.
The second educational panel was one of the key focus of the event as five General Managers from the top hospitality brands were leading the discussions based on the topic of ‘Emotional Intelligence & Customer Service’.
All leaders including: Mr. Mark Kirby Area General Manager Address Downtown Hotels & General Manager, Address Downtown – Mr. Bill Keffer Cluster General Manager JW Marriott Marquis Dubai – Mr. Timothy Kelly Executive Vice President & Managing Director Atlantis The Palm & The Royal Atlantis – Mathieu Van Alphen Area General Manager of Dubai Festival City Hotels & General Manager of Intercontinental Hotel Dubai Festival City and Mr. Victor Chalfoun General Manager Waldorf Astoria DIFC, agreed that the guests come back because of the people. Moreover, they encouraged to be the change one wish to see within a department. And that indeed empathy is a very important trait.
As a professional organization, Les Clefs dÓr UAE is always focused on educating our peers and we feel this year we elevated the stage for years to come by mentoring the upcoming generation of young hospitality professionals.
