Planned topics include a panel discussion on the realities of cloud computing for hospitality; the latest techniques of hackers; new hospitality mobile apps; fiber optic infrastructure for hospitality and a report on the technical challenges of the complex Al Habtoor City project.
CHICAGO – Hotel IT leaders from around the globe will gather 23-25 September at the third annual Middle East Conference of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) in Dubai. Industry CIOs and senior vendor personnel alike recognize HTNG events as the best opportunity in the industry to understand key tech trends, learn about new technologies, network with peers and view new product offerings from exhibiting vendors.
“The number of new hotel developments in the Gulf Region continues to challenge developers and operators, who need to ensure that their hotels open with current but cost-effective technology,” said Douglas Rice, Executive Vice President and CEO of HTNG. “Advance registrations for this year’s event are already well ahead of last year’s final attendance, reconfirming the reasons behind HTNG’s commitment to offering high-quality content to help technologists in the region.”
Planned topics include a panel discussion on the realities of cloud computing for hospitality; the latest techniques of hackers; new hospitality mobile apps; fiber optic infrastructure for hospitality and a report on the technical challenges of the complex Al Habtoor City project. Other sessions will include an inside look at emerging trends in guest TV; how hotel operators view technology and a session where hotel company technology leaders have an open discussion on what is driving their technology needs.
Confirmed speakers to date include:
- Samir Abi Frem, Corporate VP-IT, Rotana Hotels Management Corporation
- Tatjana Ahmed, Housekeeping Manager, Grand Hyatt Dubai
- Marwan Al Ali, Senior VP-Operations, Jumeirah Group
- Floor Bleeker, CIO, Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts
- Deepak Chauhan, VP-Cloud Solutions, Prologic First
- Emmanuel Clave, Group IT Director, Rocco Forte Hotels
- Thomas Di Giacomo, CTO, Swisscom
- Nazih Fattal, Technical Program Manager, Zhone Technologies
- Andria Gamal, Senior Technical Sales Manager, LG Electronics
- Nigel Hattersley, Regional Director of IT, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
- Fraser Hickox, Managing Director, The Conceptual Group
- Ted Horner, Managing Director, E. Horner & Associates Pty. Ltd.
- Thomas Huber, VP of IT, TIME Hotels
- Mahmoud Kamal, CIO, Al Habtoor Group LLC
- Bill Keffer, General Manager, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai
- Daniel Lister, CEO, Danmagi
- Neil Menezes, VP IT Operations, Jumeirah Group
- Oliver Menzel, Vice President, Services & Business Development, MICROS Systems, Inc.
- Maarten van den Nieuwenhuisen, VP Operations-Africa, Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts
- Michael Nugent, General Manager, Moevenpick Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel Dubai
- Ralph Poesche, Director IT Products & Business Solutions, Atlantis The Palm
- K.N. Ramdas, Regional Director-IT, Kempinski Hotels
- Terence Ronson, Managing Director, Pertlink Limited
- Prasanna Rupasinghe, IT Manager, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
- Costas Sakellariou, CEO, Media Communications S.A.
- Allan Smith, Managing Director, Reitech SA
- Joe Tesfai, SVP, Information Technology, Atlantis The Palm
- Tariq Valani, Technology Solutions Director, Entiretec AG
- Stefan Viard, GM, Vida Downtown
- Patrick van der Wardt, Chief Business Development Officer, iTesso
- Jeremy Ward, President, HTNG; former SVP of IT, Kempinski Hotels
- Mike Wilkinson, Managing Consultant, SpiderLabs APAC/EMEA, Trustwave
- Ahmed Youssef, WW Business Development Director, Hospitality, Alcatel-Lucent
- Konstantin Zeuke, General Manger, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
The conference will be held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina. It kicks off with a welcome reception on Tuesday evening, 23 September, followed by a day and a half of general sessions on Wednesday, 24 September and Thursday, 25 September, ending with lunch. A roundtable event for senior hotel IT executives only will follow on Thursday afternoon.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
