Ricardo Gomes joins the iconic St Regis Abu Dhabi as its director of sales with over 19 years of international hospitality experience.

Most recently Gomes headed the sales and marketing team for IHG in Lisbon Portugal as cluster director of sales and marketing. Prior to this, he led an extensive career with Starwood holding a variety of positions including director of sales for the pre-opening of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, director of sales and marketing at The Westin Langkawi as well as a tenure at Le Meridien Oran Hotel & Convention Centre.

Gomes’ career spans a great depth including positions held at various sales roles within other hospitality groups including Accor and Karma Resorts as well as in the Meetings, & Events Industry.

He holds a Masters of Arts in European Tourism & Management from The University of Bournemouth as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Tour Operating Management, Tourism from Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril, Portugal.

Gomes now returns to the Middle East and his new role will be to focus on driving and leading the Sales Team for one of the most admired luxury hotels in the capital.

Gomes' reports will include the corporate, leisure, government and groups, catering and events sales teams.

Moustafa Sakr, general manager of St Regis Abu Dhabi, said: “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Ricardo to the team. Ricardo join’s us at a key time where, as part of our fifth anniversary celebrations, the hotel is investing in the enhancement of our offering. Our guest satisfaction and reputation in the city is at the highest it’s ever been and this is something we have worked very hard to achieve. Ricardo’s many years in the industry will be a key component to driving this and we are confident that his expertise will continue to drive the success we have achieved in the capital particularly as new competition enters the market.” - TradeArabia News Service