Rocco Forte Hotels has announced the appointment of Nader Hamarna as regional director of sales - Middle East, in an attempt to boost its sales team in the region.

The additional sales role has been created in direct response to growing demand for the company’s product across the region, in part stimulated by the arrival of the Rocco Forte Hotel Abu Dhabi last year, a statement from an official said.

Abu Dhabi-based Hamarna is specifically tasked to manage and grow the outbound leisure business from the Middle East to Rocco Forte’s European hotels, as well as maintain and develop corporate individual, meetings and incentives across the region, the statement said.

His role complements fellow Middle East regional director of sales, Adel Soukah, who will continue to be responsible for developing individual personal travel and diplomatic business. Both positions report to Richard Bousfield, Rocco Forte Hotels’, regional director of sales for the UK & Middle East.

“The Middle East is a vitally important market for our company with travellers from this part of the world already making up a significant proportion of business at our European properties and our new Abu Dhabi hotel,” Bousfield said.

“With further expansion planned over the next two years, it is vitally important that we have the resources and expertise in place to service our customers and grow our business. Hamarna has a great blend of hospitality expertise and market knowledge which will prove invaluable in supporting our strategic objectives in this key territory.”  

Hamarna brings over eight years of dedicated Middle Eastern hotels sales experience to the job, having previously held senior regional sales roles with Marriot global sales in the UAE, and most recently was director of business travel, in charge of corporate and group segments for The Ritz Carlton, Dubai.

Rocco Forte Hotels is set to grow its Middle East portfolio when it opens a new luxury hotel in Jeddah, featuring 146 rooms, 63 suites and around 50 serviced apartments.

Located in the heart of the city’s fashionable shopping district on Tahlia Road, close to the Corniche, the property will feature the company’s signature interiors and world-class facilities, including three restaurants, a tea lounge, luxury health club, as well as extensive meetings space.

The company also plans to expand into North Africa, with openings planned in Marrakech, Cairo and Luxor. – TradeArabia News Service