Ted Horner is the owner of E Horner & Associates an independent hospitality technology consultancy firm which started 20 years ago and is now regarded as Australia’s leading technology consultant. Over the last 20 years Ted undertook a wide variety of assignments covering all aspects of technology selection and others for hotels , resorts, golf clubs and convention centres. In 2004 Ted was elected to HITEC Technology Hall of Fame and at the time was the first non US resident to be awarded this honour. For the last 15 years he has been invited to give speeches at all the major technology conferences around the world and have written many articles on technology for the industry during this time. In 2002 Ted became one of the founding members of HTNG in the US a not for profit body that is committed to the development of integrated standards for competing vendors in the industry. In 2005, Ted obtained my first consulting assignment with Jumeriah in Dubai and now have a small equity stake in a local consulting company called Info Sight

Floor Bleeker is serving as the Group Director of Business Solutions for the Jumeirah Group. In his current position, reporting to the Chief Information Officer, he oversees the teams responsible for the IT resource portfolio, IT project management, process management, business planning, business systems solutions, software development, data warehousing, global expansion and IT management in Jumeirah business units. Floor holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a Marketing Communications specialization from the University of Colorado, USA and also holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a Finance specialization from Hotel School The Hague in the Netherlands. Before joining Jumeirah Group Floor worked as the Director of IT for the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai and served as an IT Manager for the Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts regional office in Brussels, Belgium. Floor, Dutch, is married to Anne and has one daughter Lauren.

Shafeeq Hamza, an IT Specialist, has been with the Dubai, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing for the past 12 years. He has been innovating solutions for the Department of Tourism’s process automation and marketing requirements. He is currently involved the creation of Dubai’s tourism brand Definitely Dubai

Roger Macfarlaine, has been an IT (Information Technology) professional for over twenty nine years with experience ranging from computer operations, development and systems management. Living and working in many countries across the worlds.

His relationship with IT has been a close one, natured and developed through the graduated processes that one is required to go through in order to achieve well rounded IT skills and credentials. Much of his career has been spent in systems management in the hospitality industry working in regional positions for organizations such as, Radisson Hotels, Inter-Continental Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotel and Resorts and now Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts. As an IT professional Roger is conversant with today’s technologies and trends and their best fit approach to any organization, especially the hospitality industry.

Willi Tinner is CIO for Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts. His responsibility include the strategic Information Technology panning as well as the development and implementation of global information technology solutions, ensuring the position of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts as a leader in the application of technology bringing about operation efficiency and maximum guest satisfaction. With more than 20 years in IT, holding senior management positions in the airlinecatering- and hospitality industry he has acquired a broad know-how and huge experience in IT management and technology deployment. Prior to joining Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, he was in charge as CIO for Swissôtel Management Ltd and Raffles International Hotels and Resorts and was owner of Hotel Technology GmbH, a Swiss based IT consulting company specialized in providing consultancy services to the hospitality industry with a primary focus on independent hotels.

Filippo Barbetta has more than twelve years of experience in various international fields. After taking a University Degree in Economy, he started in 1997 working for the European Union (EU) as a Strategic and Marketing Consultant in Brussels, Berlin and Kiev. After that, he spent five years as a partner of a prestigious Italian consulting company skilled on reorganization and international marketing, covering the fields of Business Process Reengineering, strategic and operational marketing and IT services. During 2002 he moved to GP Dati as Head of Marketing Department, followed by Director of Sales & Marketing and then to cover the Worldwide Alliances and Developments, based on developing business in new countries and managing the international IT projects and partnerships.

Daniel Hajjar started his career with Hilton International in Paris back in 1983. In 1986, he moved to Abu Dhabi and since then, he has been associated with the hotel industry in the Middle East. He had the opportunity to head the Sales & Marketing team of the Hilton properties in Bahrain and Dubai before moving to Cairo in 1992 as the Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for 23 Hilton properties within the Middle East. In 1994, he moved back to Abu Dhabi as the General Manager of the Hilton Corniche Residence. In 1997, Rotana Hotels invited him to join the emerging group as Vice President Sales & Marketing. The position very exciting and challenging as it was not available within the corporate structure and the brand was not yet known. In 1998, Daniel moved to Lebanon, as the Vice President – Operations, to oversee the development of the company and to open its first 5 star property in the Levant, the Gefinor Rotana Hotel. In 2002, he returned back to Abu Dhabi to spearhead the Sales & Marketing department in anticipation of Rotana’s massive expansion plan. The priorities he has set for himself were related to developing a new Visual Identity for the group, introduce new Sales & Marketing technologies, expend the distribution network by entering into strategic alliances with airline and hotel partners in key feeder markets and the opening of sales offices in the UK, Germany, Kuwait and in India. Daniel’s biggest achievement was the development and the launch of one of the most recognized and successful loyalty programmes in the region; Rotana Rewards. He has, as well, put in place a solid Sales & Marketing structure that would lead the company’s remarkable ambition plans. In 2007, he decided to partner with GGICO to launch a new Hospitality company in the region with an objective for it to be a true alternative to the existing International and Regional Management companies.

Joe Tesfai, an Eritrean-American, joined Kerzner International in early 2007 in the capacity of Senior Vice President - IT for Atlantis The Palm. Prior to Atlantis, he held senior technology positions in the Jumeirah Group, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts (ME&A) and Four Seasons Hotels & Resort in the United States. Joe has been in the Middle East for over 10 years now and his contributions to the Hospitality Industry here are well known and respected amongst his peers

iBAHN, partner of choice to the hospitality industry and global provider of broadband solutions, digital information and entertainment services. Monthly, more than 1.8 million travellers and meeting attendees rely on iBAHN to increase productivity with secure internet access options in across six continents. Almost 3,000 hotels are utilising our secure network to provide high speed internet access for the widest ever range of innovative fully integrated hotel IP solutions. The unrivalled guest entertainment includes digital TV, video on demand and business grade high speed Internet services all delivered over iBAHN’s advanced patented network. Established in 1998, iBAHN is partnered with leading hotel groups such as Accor, Hilton, InterContinental Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Rocco Forte and many more. For more information about how iBAHN can increase hotel revenue and deliver an improved guest experience, please visit www.ibahn.com.

Samir Abi Frem is a professional executive who graduated with a BS in Computer Science and a Master degree in Hotel Management. He has worked for 10 years with reputable international hotel chain where he built up the company Vision in Technology and formed a very energetic and professional team. In line with that, he also acquired a remarkable multinational experience in In-room technology, System Automation and Integrated Internal Process in the service industry. As the Corporate VP-Information Technology (Rotana) he is responsible in developing project plans to implement various hospitality software and hardware to the Hotels. He performs IT Standard reviews against the company’s standards and international norms of IT Systems security to ensure that IT Operations are performing at the highest level of efficiency and security. With his extensive background in hotel and Information Technology management, he enforces high IT standards that are essential to successful hotel management.

Douglas Rice is Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG), a non-profit trade organization dedicated to improving technology used in the hospitality industry. HTNG counts nearly 400 major hotel companies, technology vendors, and other interested parties among its membership. He reports to the organization’s board of directors, which consists of Chief Information and Technology Officers from leading hotel companies from around the world. He was honored by Hotel Business magazine in a 2008 cover story as one of the five most influential executives in the field of hotel technology. Prior to HTNG, Mr. Rice consulted for more than 15 years to senior management from global hotel companies on marketing, technology, and operations issues. He earned his Masters in Business Administration with top honors from Harvard Business School and his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Richard Smith is a chartered building services engineer with over 30 years of experience. He is the Chair of Carbon Critical Buildings for the Atkins Group and past Vice Chair of the Emirates Green Building Council. For the past decade Richard has led the design of large complex building and small scale urban projects and has specialised in the delivery of low energy integrated design solutions. He still practices as an Engineer in the energy, commercial and industrial sectors and is able to bring his experience and innovation to find solutions to complex questions. Richard also leads a team of specialists in the Middle East region who provide professional services for sustainability, building physics, vertical transportation, acoustics, fire engineering and ICT-S. His first role in the Middle East started in 1996 where until 1999, he delivered the technology packages for the Burj Al Arab Hotel. He returned in 2001 to the Sultanate of Oman to deliver the design for the prestigious Barr Al Jissah resort and in 2003 transferred to Dubai to take up a regional role for building services and also lead a number of large projects including the new ‘The Address’ hotel in Dubai.

Thomas Huber started his career with Kempinski hotels in Berlin, Germany, in 1886. After various hotel assignments in Germany and on a cruise ship he joined Hilton International at the London Hilton on Park Lane in 1989. In 1990 he transferred with Hilton to Paris as IT-Manager and is associated with hospitality information technology since then. After similar IT-Manager posts at Hilton hotels in Munich and Algiers he relocated to Hilton Head Office in the UK in 1994 where he was Regional IT-Manager for the UK hotel portfolio until 1999, responsible for over 20 properties in England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1999 he had the unique responsibility to set-up the IT organization for the newly created Jumeirah group in Dubai. In that capacity he was instrumental for the successful opening of global landmarks like the Burj Al Arab Hotel, The Emirates Towers Hotel and Wild Wadi Waterpark, to name just some. The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management was another successful project, applying a range of advanced technologies which were unique to the region at that time. For his visionary and practical approach towards hospitality technology he was awarded the title “IT Manager of the Year” by the Arabian Computer News magazine in 2002. In 2004 he joined Shangri-La at their corporate head offices in Hong Kong as Director of Information Systems where he had corporate responsibilities for all business systems on property (56 hotels) and enterprise platforms. In 2008 he teamed up with Layia Hospitality, a newly formed hotel management organization in Dubai, as Corporate Director of Information Technology. In this capacity he is fully responsible for all I.T. related matters of the group. Creating portfolio policy guidelines, network & systems design, green initiatives, launching a new corporate website and project management for the hotels under construction are major tasks at present

Shaikha Ebrahim Al Mutawa, Director of Business Development in the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), has more than 8 years’ experience in marketing and promoting events. To date she has organized more than 80 tourism events and has served as committee chairman for events such as the National Day Celebrations and Dubai Summer Surprises. Shaikha was promoted earlier this year (2009) to Director of Business Development for her continuous support of development projects. She is currently involved in developing a variety of tourism projects, as well as leading some of the DTCM Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, recently Dubai Green Tourism Award 2009 which aim to reward the significant hotel establishments who invested in Environmental practices and procedures, she also educated more than 500 candidates in the Tourism Industry regards the Environments importance in several workshops and training sessions. Shaikha attended several and been spoke person in several conferences and business networking events recently Hotel Show, The Seven Star Conference which will find place in the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from 24 – 26 May. Shaikha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Dubai University, she has 2 diplomas with honor from Dubai Women’s College and recently she has been selected to join the Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Young leaders program.

Majid Saqer Al-Marri, is an Emirati who has an extensive experience in hotel classification and in the implementation of hotel standards and criteria in Dubai. His previous experiences include banking, property marketing and public relations. Majid graduated from London Business School and holds an Executive Masters in Business Administration. Majid has worked with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing since 2001. He originally held the position of Executive in the Hotel Classification Department. In 2007 he was promoted to the position of Director of the Hotel Classification Department and is currently responsible for the licensing and classification of all of the hotels in Dubai. This includes ensuring that hotel standards and criteria are adhered to and assigning star rankings to each hotel. Majid recently received the distinction of being named to Hotelier Middle East’s “Middle East Power 50”, a list of the boldest and most influential people in the regional hospitality industry

Radi Karnib holds a Masters Degree in Computer and Computer Engineering. He has a 2-year background in software, web and games programming. Radi then spent 5 years with the Moevenpick Hotels in the Middle East and African regions where he gained an invaluable experience in the hotel system design and implementation. Now on his third year with the Rotana Hotels where he is currently the IT Projects Manager, Radi is in charge of the IT section in all the new Rotana Hotels projects and is now working on over 30 Rotana hotel projects in the GCC and Middle East regions.

Dr. Sanjay Nadkarni is currently an Associate Professor in Information Systems at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management. His research, consultancy and teaching interests are in Information Systems, Quantitative Methods and Development Studies in Tourism and Hospitality. He has worked in this domain since 1997 during the course of which he was affiliated with the Macao Institute of Tourism Studies, the Faculty of International Tourism of the Macao University of Science & Technology and the School of Travel Industry Management of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Sanjay has undertaken several advisory and consultancy assignments in IT for UN agencies and the Asian Development Bank. Sanjay has a Ph.D. from the University of Hull, UK, a Master’s degree in Technology Management from the Portuguese Catholic University and Inter University Institute of Macao, and a Master of Science in Physics & Mathematics from the Moscow State University, Russia. His academic publications can be viewed at www.jumeirah.com/en/Jumeirah-Group/The-Emirates-Academy /The-Academy/Faculty/Sanjay-Nadkarni/Publications-of-Dr-Nadkarni/

Eric Einspanjer
Director of Engineering Technology, Hyatt International Hotels
Technical Services