Gayraud joins Coral International
Chahnaz Gayraud has joined Coral Internat-ional Hotels, Resorts & Spas as the general manager of the newly opened Coral Boutique Hotel Apartments and Coral Boutique Villas, Al Barsha.
Prior to her new role, Gayraud has had the opportunity to work in some of the finest hotels in Paris, Monte Carlo, Santa Barbara (USA), Arizona (USA) and Bangalore.
Narasimhan assumes new role
G Narasimhan has been named managing director, business dev-elopment, for South Asia and the Indian Ocean for Six Senses Resorts & Spas.
He takes charge from his previous position as the group finance director. Narsimhan joined the company in 1993 as financial controller, then moving to finance director before becoming group finance director.
Lobo joins Grand Regency Doha
John Horald Lobo has been been appointed as the new director of finance at the Grand Regency Hotel, Doha in Qatar.
Lobo brings with him 17 years of experience in the finance department. Lobo’s experience spans over various five-star hotel groups including the Rotana Group, UAE, the Ramada Hotel, Dubai and the Le Meridian, UAE.
Mövenpick Hotels welcomes new staff
New at the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts prew-opening office for the four new hotels in Dubai is Lee-Anna Nussbaumer (left), who joins as director of human resources and training. Her expertise includes the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Also overseeing the same properties as financial account-ant is Bikash Chatterjee, who was previously with the Oberoi Group.
Gulf Air appoints new manager
Gulf Air's former PR manager, Hisham Abu Alfateh has been promoted to manager, sports marketing and sponsorship after a 12-month stint at the airline's UK sales office. He joined Gulf Air's corporate affairs department as public relations manager in 2004 and moved to the company's UK regional sales and marketing team as key accounts manager in 2006.
Emirates Palace welcomes Sjoedin
Norwegian national and expert hotelier Arild Sjoedin has been appointed at the Emirates Palace as the new hotel manager, following a two and a half year stretch as general manager of the Kempinski Hotel Bel Air in Binz, Germany.
Sjoedin also sits on the Board of a number of prestigious travel and hospitality-related organization.
Elmanawaty at Four Seasons
Ashraf Elmanawaty has been appointed director of marketing at the Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria. He moves to Alexandria from Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh where, he was in-charge of the marketing department. Prior to joining Four Seasons, he held several management and executive positions in sales and marketing with InterContinental Hotels.
Neifer joins Le Meridien Abu Dhabi
Klaus Niefer has been appointed as director of operations at the Le Méridien Abu Dhabi. Niefer is a qualified chef and has worked as executive assistant manager of food and beverage at the Regent Shanghai and as executive assistant manager of InterContinental Hotel Sydney. He has held assignments with Grand Hyatt's and Park Hyatt's in Asia and Australia.
New Chef at Al Murooj Rotana
The Al Murooj Rotana Hotel & Suites recently welcomed Burton Kingsley George (left) as its new pastry chef. He has been associated with chains such as the Sheraton, Safir and the Fairmont. Kamal Kashyap has been appointed as revenue manager at the hotel, moving from a position as revenue manager at the ITC Hotel Maurya Sheraton & Towers, New Delhi.
New GM at Dhow Palace Hotel
The recently opened Dhow Palace Hotel Dubai, has appointed Samier Aziz as general manager. Aziz has been general manager at various properties of international chains such as the Ramada, Sheraton, Pearl Continental, Avari and Marriott. He has a certificate from the Hospitality Management Faculty of the Hogere Hotel School in The Hague, Netherlands.
Allegri moves to Sharm El Sheikh
Luca Allegri has been appointed general manager of Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh. Allegri takes charge from the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza where he was hotel manager. His previous assignments include assistant to French chef Alain Ducasse at the Monte Carol Hotel, Monaco and marketing manager with Orient Express Hotel, Italy.
New staff at Sheraton Dubai Creek
The Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers has appointed two new staff, Mohamed Iqbal Kasmani (left), as the director of finance, and Tinka Tzolova as the director of housekeeping. Kasmani was previously deputy director of finance at the Sheraton Doha, Qatar. Tzolova joined the Sheraton Dubai Creek after a one-and-a-half-year stint with Le Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi.
New faces at the Renaissance Dubai
Rashmi Chittal (left) is the new PR and mar-comms manager for the Renaissance Dubai Hotel. She was earlier in charge of PR and marketing for the Radisson SAS Hotel in Dubai Media City during its pre-opening. Jon Michael E Sumaguing has joined the hotel as systems manager. He has experience in hotels such as the Doha Marriott and the Riyadh Marriott.
Hogan appointed at Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways has announced the appoin-tment of James Hogan as CEO.
Hogan was earlier president and chief executive of Gulf Air. During his four-year tenure he successfully redefined and restr-uctured the airline.
Hogan is joined at Etihad by James Rigney who takes on the position of vice president finance.
Hilton HHonors Gets a New Face Hilton International has recently appointed Hanim Fisher as its regional manager of the Hilton HHonors programme for the Middle East. After a three-year stint working in New Zealand for the Air New Zealand Group, Fisher relocated to Bahrain in 2003 where she joined Gulf Air as partnership and marketing manager before moving to Hilton.