More than 200 hospitality industry leaders from the MENA region will come together in Dubai to share expert knowledge that will help advance the hospitality sector in the Middle East.

The event, taking place on 4th December at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City hotel is being organised by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI).

HSMAI today released the agenda for the Revenue Optimisation Conference (ROC) event. The ROC 2019 edition features a mix of topics, discussions and best practices for approaching digital marketing and media investment, acquisition/development of new markets, understanding the power of data, total hotel revenue management and strategy, and much more. World-class regional and international experts have been carefully selected to lead the sessions and discussions on securing sustained hotel growth across the Middle East.

The conference features 45 international and regional speakers and five insightful panel discussions on topics including ‘how hotels can effectively plan to acquire new feeder markets’ with subject thought leaders Hoor Alkhaja, Associate Vice President at Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Haitham Mattar, Senior Advisor at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, as well as experts from Accor and Rotana.

Other panel discussions include ‘targeting the customer journey through technology and data’, ‘total revenue management – how revenue management, F&B and finance are working together to optimise profit in hotel restaurant operations’, ‘digital marketing – what does the future look like?’ and ‘is distribution the new sales?’

15 keynote speeches will be delivered from industry leaders including James Britchford, Vice President of Commercial at IHG IMEA; Dr. Sherri Kimes, Emeritus Professor of Operations Management at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and a Visiting Professor of Analytics and Operations at the Business School at the National University of Singapore; Dr. Kelly McGuire, Principle, McRevenue, LLC; Sarah Allan, Vice President of Revenue Strategy and Analytics at Marriott International; Chris Avery, Regional Vice President of Sales at CVENT; and Mona Faraj, who leads HSMAI in the region, amongst others.

Keynote topics will include ‘evolution of revenue management’, ‘are you ready for change’ which will look at new feeder markets, ‘why THRM is a must’, ‘millennial meeting planners’, ‘trends that will shape travel marketing decisions in 2020’, ‘an aerial view: from the top down’, ‘the power of data’, ‘maximising guests’ life time value through social media’, ‘one size fits nobody: creating for a curated world’, taking control in a fast-paced world’, ‘hotel distribution challenges and solutions for the leisure travel trade’, and ‘transforming hospitality and travel with technology’. 

ROC 2019 will also feature sessions looking at global and regional market insights, unreleased research from a CVENT study on the status of the MICE market in the UAE, case studies, sessions on upselling as well as networking sessions. Experts from Palazzo Versace, the Four Seasons MEA, Atlantis The Palm, Hilton, Marriott, Wego, Facebook, Hyatt and Jumeirah will help deliver the sessions and panel discussions.

An executive interview with Manu Midha, Region Head, Middle East for OYO Hotels will take place as well as two research sessions.

HSMAI provides practical tools, insights and cutting-edge expertise to enable knowledge sharing, enhance professional development  as well as increase sales, inspire marketing, digitally transform businesses and take the lead in revenue strategy. HSMAI is the global leading association for the hotel industry and the Middle East membership is growing rapidly.

The event is being organized in partnership with key organisations including platinum partners; SEERA, Avero, Cvent and Livingroom, and gold partners; Cendyn, Illusion, RateGain and WEGO.

Mona Faraj, who leads HSMAI in the region, said: “This ROC 2019 event will see the biggest players in the hospitality industry from across the globe come together to share specialist knowledge on the sector in this region and look how we can shape it to meet the demands of future trends.

“The potential for market growth in this region is huge, and with markets such as Saudi Arabia looking to push tourism and the hospitality industry in order to diversify its economy, it is crucial for regional experts from the industry to come together and knowledge share to ensure the industry is progressing.”

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© Press Release 2019

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