Dato Tuan Ibrahim Tengku Abdullah has been appointed Malaysian Airline's new regional general manager, Middle East & Africa.
As an employee with the airline for nearly 30 years, Abdullah was previously employed within the group, in charge of ground services at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In his new role, Abdullah looks forward to increasing the number of direct destinations from Dubai. "We are aware of the strategic importance of Dubai in the region. At the same time, you will also appreciate the growing popularity of Malaysia as a preferred holiday destination for people residing in this region," he said. "My role here is to bridge that gap between Malaysia and the Middle East, particularly Dubai." ***** Conrad Hotels in Egypt has promoted Ahmed Salama as the general manager of the group's Red Sea resorts. Salama, who was a key member of the Conrad Cairo opening team, was the general manager of Conrad Sharm El Sheikh Resort at the time of his promotion. A hospitality veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Salama was the executive assistant manager of Conrad Cairo. He was promoted in 1999 as the resident manager for Conrad Cairo following his key role in positioning Conrad Cairo as the best downtown hotel in Egypt's capital. Conrad Hotels, part of the Hilton group, has also announced several other promotions among its senior management. Ayman Abdel Aziz has been named as the new executive assistant manager at Conrad Cairo. Nasser Mokhtar has been promoted to director of sales and marketing. Mahmoud Fahmy has been promoted to the position of director of food and beverage. ***** Claudia Venturini has joined The Ritz-Carlton, Sharm El Sheikh as director of sales and marketing. With more than 12 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Venturini's career includes positions with Six Continents Hotels in Luxemburg, Germany, Belgium and Lebanon. A native of Luxemburg, Venturini has an Italian father, a Belgium husband and two daughters born in Lebanon. ***** Fiona Robson has been appointed regional director of sales for Hilton International Hotels in Egypt. Robson comes from the UK, and after her graduation from Cambridge University, she joined Thomson Holidays on their Management Training Scheme where she was later promoted to contracts manager working in many different destinations including the Caribbean, Thailand, India, Africa and Egypt. In May 2000, she moved to Wait Disney Travel company at the launch of this new company focusing on product development and sales to Walt Disney Resort Hotels and Theme Parks in Florida, USA. Robson is a certified Scuba diver and enjoys water-skiing, tennis and music. Mohamed Awadallah has taken up the post of director of operations at Hilton Corniche Residence, Abu Dhabi. ***** Alexandre Maurisseau has joined the Sands Hotel Abu Dhabi, as food and beverage manager. Born in France, Alexandre joined Sands Hotel after gaining experience in international 5-star properties, where for the past years he was responsible for the F&B operations. Maurisseau has progressed through restaurant and banqueting operations with international hotels such as The Westin La Quinta Marbella Hotel in Spain, Le Meridien Hotel in Brussels, Holiday Inn Park View Hotel in Singapore, and Hotel Majestic in Cannes. With his international experience in F&B field, Maurisseau has planned a number of exciting and different promotions and activities for the Abu Dhabi community at Sands Hotel.