New Promotions and Appointments at the Flagship IHG UAE Hotels in Dubai Festival City

• Promotion of Sayed Tayoun as Hotel Manager at Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City
• Appointment of Michael Borges as Area Director of Sales and Marketing, InterContinental Hotels at Dubai Festival City
• Promotion of Juliana Khalife as Cluster Director of Sales, InterContinental Hotels at Dubai Festival City

DUBAI, UAE. September 2019: InterContinental Hotels at Dubai Festival City announces the latest promotions and appointment across the flagship hotels in the UAE. IHG is a brand that is committed to attracting, developing, rewarding and retaining diverse talents bringing the brands to life every single day, creating Great Hotels Guests Love.

Sayed Tayoun has been promoted to Hotel Manager at Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City, a promotion representing a ‘Room to Grow’ success story, matching the right opportunity with the right candidate and further illustrates IHG’s commitment, whenever possible, to growing talent from within.

Under his stewardship, as Area Director of Sales and Marketing, the InterContinental Hotels Group Hotels at Dubai Festival City have continued to grow from strength to strength. Impressive Commercial financial numbers remain at the top of the leader board and he and his team showcased a restructured sales operation to highlight the possibility of “taking the risk” thinking and converting an obstacle into a role model opportunity for the region. Tayoun has been part of IHG for nearly 15 years across nine properties.

With Tayoun’s move the hotel has announced the appointment of Michael Borges as Area Director of Sales & Marketing for InterContinental Hotels at Dubai Festival City. With more than 19 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Borges has worked in various roles across seven countries in Europe.

He was most recently the Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing at the InterContinental Malta where he was responsible for the InterContinental Hotel, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Malta and IACC – Congress Centre with 31 meeting venues across 9,000m2. His extensive Sales and Marketing and MICE leadership experience also includes Area Sales & Marketing and Conference & Events Management positions in Waldorf Astoria, Hilton, The Romanos - Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Westin Resort in Greece. Borges’ journey with IHG started in 2015 at the InterContinental Budapest, Hungary.

Juliana Khalife has been promoted as Cluster Director of Sales for InterContinental Hotels Group at Dubai Festival City. Khalife’s journey with IHG Dubai Festival City started back in 2007 as Business Development Manager during the hotels’ pre-opening phase. Through her strategic leadership, she has led the team as Director of Conference and Events for the past five years with a proven track record of success. She also played a pivotal role in implementing several strategies to enhance productivity and generate revenue for conference and events.

Khalife’s promotion will ensure the continuation of providing memorable guest experiences and commercial strategies, while achieving the company’s goals, along with developing team members.

Mathieu van Alphen, Area General Manager, said ‘We are delighted to foster the guiding principles of IHG specifically the development of all of our talented people - we call this ‘Room to grow’. Also, we all look forward to the continued success of our flagship properties in Dubai Festival City.’

About IHG Hotels at Dubai Festival City:

Taking prime location within one of Dubai’s most exciting retail, leisure and entertainment destinations, Dubai Festival City is only minutes from Dubai International Airport, the major commercial hubs of Dubai and connecting roads to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and beyond.

The IHG hotels in Dubai Festival City sit on the water’s edge of the historic Dubai Creek and are just a stones-throw away from the unique city attractions including the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Frame, allowing visitors to benefit from the best of both worlds, old and new.

Encompassing the InterContinental (508 rooms), InterContinental Residences Suites (264 rooms), Crowne Plaza (316 rooms) and the Holiday Inn (510 rooms), plus almost 10,000 sq m of diverse event spaces including the Festival Arena and 14 restaurants and bars, Dubai Festival City is the perfect destination for anyone spending time in Dubai.

For more information on the hotels, conference facilities and restaurants at Dubai Festival City, please visit: dubaifestivalcityhotels.com