The Hotel Show Dubai – the largest and most comprehensive hospitality event in the Middle East – has just been shortlisted in two categories at the 2018 AEO Excellence Awards.
The Association of Event Organisers (AEO) award the best that the international events industry has to offer at the annual ceremony, showcasing “amazing” achievements over the past year in terms of individual events, venues, suppliers and contractors.
Long-standing The Hotel Show has been running in the UAE for almost two decades. Its 2017 edition is up for a potential win in both the AEO’s ‘Best Overseas Show’ and ‘Innovation Award’ categories this year.
Last year the event went through its most significant period of change to date, announcing a raft of exciting new features and sectors for its 18th edition, as well as brand extensions in Saudi Arabia, Africa and the Philippines. Due to global growth plans, the entire portfolio revealed a new look and feel to provide a sleek, integrated look across all of its editions and reflect the increasing international importance of its portfolio and core event in Dubai, UAE.
The innovative new feature line up launched at the show included The Middle East Housekeepers League of Champions, the focus of the event’s shortlisted entry for the ‘Innovation Award’.
The first event of its kind in the world, the brand new competition saw hotel rooms set up back to back on The Hotel Show floor and trashed. Housekeeping teams from 26 hotels competed head-to-head to clean them in just seven minutes. The Hotel Show team identified a clear gap in the market for an event dedicated to the ‘unsung heroes’ of the hospitality industry, which is now providing a platform to demonstrate industry best practice, encourage on-going training and development and drive excellence.
Pamini Hemaprabha, representative from the UAE Professional Housekeepers Group, competition judge, executive housekeeper and master trainer commented on the success of the competition: “The Middle East Housekeepers League of Champions has raised the motivational bar much higher for the housekeeping division. This competition is very important because housekeepers spend less time socializing and coming out to networking opportunities. We live in a google age, and everything around us is changing so fast, so housekeepers need to come out of hotels and spend quality time with fellow housekeepers and suppliers to check out the competition and what is new in the market – it’s only doing good for their hotels and their division.”
Pictured: The Middle East Housekeepers League of Champions 2017 competition underway on-site at The Hotel Show Dubai
Educational platform, The Middle East Hospitality Leadership Forum, featured debate and discussion with almost 50 GMs. The Middle East Hospitality Awards celebrated industry excellence with a top-level judging panel including Chef Gary Rhodes OBE. As the industry evolves, the awards featured new categories which for the first time covered its entirety including a new focus on leisure (pool and spa / sports and fitness).
Pictured: Gary Rhodes OBE accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Middle East Hospitality Awards 2017
Due to an overwhelmingly positive response, the 2017 feature line-up will now be replicated for all international editions of The Hotel Show.
Gary Williams, Event Director of The Hotel Show Dubai commented: “As the industry changes and grows, so must we. Through our new features that directly reflect the industry, the hoteliers and all departments within a hotel, we are confident that we are providing a stage that its people deserve and are proud to do business on. Our format for 2017 pulled down the hurdles that hoteliers find along the way – from career advancement to working with suppliers. We are a community, and The Hotel Show is our annual get-together.”
The upcoming AEO Excellence Awards will take place at Grosvenor House in London on the 15th June 2018 – check out Talk About Hospitality to find out the results.
Find out more about The Hotel Show Dubai at www.thehotelshow.com and see the full AEO Excellence Awards 2018 shortlist here
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