Madinat Jumeirah, the Arabian Resort of Dubai operated by Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, has appointed two new general managers to its senior leadership team.

Pinar Kartal Timer completes the team, joining Jumeirah Al Qasr and Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf following Azar Saliba, who joined Jumeirah Al Naseem in August 2017.

The new appointments complete the current senior leadership structure at Madinat Jumeirah, headed by managing director Stefan Bollhalder and supported by the existing general manager of Jumeirah Mina A‘Salam Andy Cuthbert.

Saliba moved from Jumeirah Al Qasr to Jumeirah Al Naseem in August last year, leading the hotel team in delivering a very strong second half of 2017, both in terms of average daily rate (ADR) and room occupancy.

With more than 11 years’ experience with Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, Saliba first joined the company as front office manager at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in 2006; he then worked his way up to a number of roles such as director of rooms, executive assistant manager and resident manager from 2007 to 2011.

His strong operations background was instrumental in his support of the pre-opening phase of Jumeirah Creekside Hotel in 2011. He subsequently returned to Madinat Jumeirah as Hotel Manager of Jumeirah Mina A’Salam in 2012; ahead of his promotion to the position of General Manager of Jumeirah Al Qasr and Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf from 2013 to 2017.

Taking Saliba’s place as general manager of Jumeirah Al Qasr and Dar Al Masyaf is Timer, who relocated to Dubai from the group’s former Istanbul property, Pera Palace Hotel, and now completes the resort leadership team.

In 2009, Timer was appointed to return Pera Palace Hotel to the glory days of its century-old heritage. She successfully led the hotel team through a comprehensive restoration of the property in 2010 as well as its transition in joining the Jumeirah Hotel Group in 2012.

In joining the Madinat Jumeirah team, one of her goals is to enhance the positioning of Jumeirah Al Qasr as the hotel with the finest service and Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf as the most preferred collection of summer houses in the region.

Cuthbert remains in his role as general manager of Jumeirah Mina A’Salam and Madinat Jumeirah Conferences & Events, and Jumeirah Hospitality.

All three general managers report directly to Bollhalder, who has been leading operations since April 2017. Commenting on the new leadership team, Bollhalder said: “We are very happy with the success of our new senior leadership team so far. Both Azar Saliba and Pinar Kartal Timer have a wealth of experience operating award-winning hotels, and so have been able to start off their new roles effectively and efficiently. Together with Andy Cuthbert, they have led and supported our wider teams in a successful Q3 and Q4 of 2017, resulting in an average occupancy of 75 per cent across the entire resort and more than 80,000 arrivals.”

He continued: “It is with great confidence that we start 2018, not only in maintaining our position as one of the UAE’s most successful resorts, but also in continuing to innovate our operational experience and offerings for our guests.” - TradeArabia News Service