Job Description

Job Title Dominic Arel Appointed

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Dominic Arel Appointed As General Manager Of Fairmont The Palm, Dubai

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Fairmont The Palm has announced the appointment of Dominic Arel as General Manager, making the award-winning, Arabian-style luxury hotel the newest venture in his 26-year long career with the Accor Group.

A seasoned luxury hospitality professional with an in-depth background in operations, sales, and revenue management. Dominic is passionate about providing his guests and colleagues with unique and memorable experiences. In his role he will bring his unique expertise, strategic market insight and strong leadership skills to the Fairmont The Palm executive team, guiding them through a busy Q4 of 2022.

Having first joined Accor Group in 1996 at Novotel Montreal Centre, Dominic transferred to Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile in 2002, and after a number of promotions he grew to Hotel Manager, reporting directly to Vice President Operations of Accor in North America. In 2011, he moved to the United Arab Emirates as Hotel Manager of Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach, where he led the team to win the aEUR~Best 2012- 5 Stars Business Hotel in Dubai' accolade from the MENA Awards and hosted the Sofitel Stars, Food and Art event in 2012 with 12 Michelin starred restaurants showcased. Dominic assumed his first General Manager role at Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade in 2013 where he achieved the ISO1400 certification from Bureau Veritas and scored the best employee satisfaction result among other Sofitel hotels worldwide, before moving to Qatar in 2016 to pre-open Alwadi Hotel Doha- MGallery by Sofitel.

His love for Dubai remained strong, and Dominic returned to the United Arab Emirates in 2019 as the General Manager of Swissotel Al Ghurair and Swissotel Living Al Ghurair, before joining the Palm Jumeirah's famed Fairmont The Palm in September 2022.

Dominic holds a Diploma in Hotel Management, a Higher Advanced Certificate of Bachelor's programme in Human Resource Management from Canada, and is a Masters' graduate in the International Hospitality Management Program from the Accor Academy in Paris, France.

In his free time, Dominic is a gastronomic person and loves to spend time in the kitchen preparing fine foods, he also enjoys spending time and travelling with his family, as well as discovering new hospitality trends.

Mark Willis is a key industry opinion leader in the IMEA region, with over 420 hotels in the current portfolio and more than 120 hotels in the pipeline. He is undoubtably an industry heavy weight due to his leadership style, strategic decision making and extensive experience in the industry. His forward-thinking leadership and understanding have positioned this region as a key market for the company globally, both in results, as well as expansion plans. Throughout his tenure as CEO, Mark has led the team through a global crisis, while ensuring results were delivered, team members were taken care of, partners were supported, and guests were reassured.

A clear success is the way Mark lead and managed the region during the difficult period of Covid. His leadership and mentorship ensured that teams, partners, and guests were always informed on Accor strategies and activities that were implemented to support the different stakeholders. Successful activities included the opening over 20 properties per year since he has joined the Accor Dubai office (even during Covid), as well as ensuring that financial results were achieved even during the most difficult times. Another standout achievement has been the hugely successful opening and launch of lifestyle brands in the region such as SLS, 25 Hours and Hyde Dubai.

Tim Cordon has been with Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) (formerly Carlson Rezidor) for nearly two decades. He began his progressive career in the UK in 2003 as General Manager at Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport which, at the time, was Rezidor's largest hotel in the UK and where he successfully positioned the hotel in the group's top 20 performing hotels worldwide.

In 2006, Cordon was recognised with the Alpha Forum Prize- "Younger ManageraEUR award by the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame. He then took on several leadership roles in two of the group's key properties in London before making Dubai his home in 2015, taking on the role of Regional Director of Middle East & Africa (MEA). In 2017, Cordon was appointed Area Senior Vice President for MEA responsible for leading operations and delivering business growth and profit across the group's largest area. Cordon has played a crucial role in Radisson Hotel Group's expansion in the region, hitting key milestones for the group worldwide and setting in place an ambitious five-year development plan to reach 100 hotels in the Middle East by 2025. By 2019, Cordon looks after 50 properties in the Middle East with a total of 10,944 keys and 57 properties in Africa with a total of 11,373 keys.

As Area Senior Vice President for MEA, Cordon continues to contribute to the group's regional milestones as it remains on track to reach its goal of having 100 properties in the next three years, as well as becoming one of the top three hotel groups in the world. Under Cordon's leadership, the group continues to unleash the power of its portfolio, consisting of nine strong brands, driving significant growth across the Middle East and Africa. In fact, Cordon made the Middle East the fastest-growing region for the group and the region that recovered best during 2021, growing RevPAR to 85.6% of pre-pandemic comparable.

In the unprecedented times of COVID-19, Cordon ensured the hotel group remained resilient and on track for the rebound of the travel and tourism market. During the pandemic, he ensured all hotels followed stringent health and safety measures, including launching the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol.

As travel started to rebound in 2021, Cordon remained optimistic and encouraged partnerships with industry peers and the public sector to rebuild the hospitality industry and ensure the safety of travellers, partners, and team members.

With a mission to be recognised as one of the top three hotel groups in the world by 2025, Cordon's visionary leadership helped secure various awards for the group including the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2022. The group won the Innovation of the Year category and Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis won the Mid-Market Hotel of The Year award. The recently opened Radisson Resort Ras Al Khaimah was highly commended in the Leading New Hotel category. RHG also took home an award at this year's Sustainability Innovation Awards for its Hydroponic Farm Project, in its commitment to contributing to the Net Zero by 2050 initiative that Dubai has set out. Sustainability has always been vital, as Cordon raised awareness of environmental responsibility and implemented sustainability programmes to reduce the hotels' carbon footprint.

Cenk Unverdi brings 15 years of experience in the hotel industry, wonderfully spent with Rixos, one of the most prolific lifestyle hotel brands globally. Being the Regional General Manager, he currently oversees 5 hotels in UAE and gearing for upcoming hotels in the wider GCC region. Through Cenk Unverdi's vision, Rixos Hotels has been successfully recognised globally and continuously expanding its footprint in the region. With his leadership, the brand awareness has reached new peaks and have been visible across prestigious channels through strategic partnerships with highly-acclaimed brands such as UAE Pro League, Mubadala, RAKBANK, Aquaventure, Dubai Parks and Resorts, and Dubai Expo 2020 amongst others. Cenk Unverdi's passion for digital landscape and innovation plays a significant role in the success of various campaigns especially after the brink of pandemic resulting to 20% of the business. In 2021, his initiative to diversify the brand and grow the business to overcome 2019 pre-covid levels resulted in

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