Dubai, UAE, 28 August 2007 - Nihad Kattan, Area Vice President of the Middle East and Africa, has just announced the appointment of Wael Soueid as General Manager of the JW Marriott Dubai.

Soueid brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his new position, with over 16 years of international experience with Marriott Hotels & Resorts. His career with Marriott began in 1991 at the Marriott Prince de Galles in Paris as the Night Audit and Night Manager. Within two years he found himself promoted to Front Desk Manager; a position he held for a short time before moving to the JW Marriott in Dubai as Front Office Manager. This role expanded his depth and knowledge, as he was actively involved in successfully opening the additional 150 room extension to the hotel. Soueid also managed the hotel through a significant refurbishment of all the bedrooms and restaurants, managed and maintained successful relationships with Abu Dhabi Government accounts, and launched the finest Royal Suite in the Middle East.

In 2001, after his many great accomplishments at the hotel, Soueid was promoted to Director of Rooms Operations, where he and the Executive Committee delivered, for the first time, the owner's priorities in 2002 and 2003. He was pivotal in retaining the hotel's market share position of number 1 in the face of increasing competition, and introduced many initiatives into the Front Office and Housekeeping departments to ensure the hotel remained ahead of the fast-paced competitor environment.

Soueid's experience, not only at the JW Marriott Dubai, but also on the task force which opened the Renaissance Tunis and piloted the conversion of the JW Marriott Kuwait, led him to the appointment of Cluster General Manager of the Jeddah and Madinah Marriott Hotels in 2003. During his time as the General Manager of these two properties, Soueid retained market share and RevPar leadership, whilst managing challenging issues with regard to terrorist threat. He also managed the Jeddah Marriott through an extensive renovation programme and created an effective outside catering operation which now generates 12 million Riyals in sales from an initial base of 1 million in 2003. His skills and expertise were recognised in a number of global leadership awards in 2005 and 2006, including an International Lodging General Manager's Award in 2006.

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Marriott International is a leading lodging company with more than 2,800 lodging properties in 68 countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers and golf courses.  The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and had approximately 143,000 employees at 2005 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry's most admired company and one of the best places to work for by Fortune magazine.  The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star partner. In fiscal year 2005, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $11.6 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.

Contact:     
Cleo Eleazar
Tel: (9714) 607-7078
Fax: (9714) 607-7011
Email: cleo.eleazar@marriotthotels.com  

© Press Release 2007