Calling all young hospitality professionals! This week’s guest Recep Pamukcu shares his philosophy and expertise on the key behind creating an amazing guest experience and getting the best out of your team.

Recep, General Manager of the breathtaking Ajman Hotel has a wealth of experience across all areas of the hospitality industry, and also happens to share some Irish roots having previously worked at The Croke Park Hotel, spending 10 years in Ireland before settling in Dubai.

Recorded at the breathtaking oasis, ZOYA Health & Wellbeing Resort, in this week's episode of YNGH podcast Mark is joined by ZOYA’s VP of Business Development, Salem al Said.

Salem, son of founder Ameer Said, gives us an inside look at the UAE’s first fully-integrated health resort and its unique and holistic approach to mind and body rejuvenation.

Discover more about ZOYA's incredible treatments and facilities at zoyawellbeing.com.

In this episode of Your Next Generation Hotel Podcast, Tolga Lacin - Area General Manager of Marriott International, sits down with Mark to chat all things sustainability and the wave of innovation sweeping across Dubai.

Tolga has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and tells his story along with fascinating insights into their sustainable initiatives to reduce the environmental impact across their properties as well as Dubai.

Tolga is the Area General Manager, Marriott International, overseeing properties including W Dubai -Mina Seyahi, The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Waterpark.

This week on Your Next Generation Hotel Podcast we sit down with yet another inspiring leader in the industry, Laura Eggleton, General Manager at Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown. Laura chats about her career so far, transitioning from UK hospitality to the Middle East and the importance self belief has had in her career so far! Laura discusses her thoughts on the importance of work life balance and how she empowers her team to be themselves at work.

Starting in the industry at just 13, Laura went on to be the first ever female General Manager at IHG at the age of just 28 and has since gone on to inspire female leaders in the industry to have the self belief required to grow in the industry.

We are back with another episode of Your Next Generation Hotel Podcast and we promise this is one of the best yet!

This week, Mark chats to Casper Schonfeldt, General Manager of Trump International Golf Club, on what sparked his interest in the hospitality sector and his journey to getting to where he is today. Casper offers advice to aspiring hoteliers and emphasises the importance of guiding and investing in talent. 

Casper now oversees the iconic and award-winning Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, with over 30 years experience in some of the world’s most renowned Golf Resorts across multiple regions.

We hope you enjoy and don't forget to share with a friend! 

This week Mark sits down with Samuel Njoroge, Quality Assurance Manager at JA Resorts and Hotels to discuss all things business excellence and sustainability. Samuel discusses his path in the industry so far, giving an insight to his passion for sustainability and the journey in becoming Dubai’s most sustainable 5 star resort hotel.

In this week's episode Mark sits down with Najee Syriani, Corporate Vice President of Projects at Rotana Hotels to chat about everything from culture to hotel design. Najee highlights the importance of staying agile to keep up with the ever evolving guest expectation and shares how Rotana collaborates with the local community to enrich a strong culture for their travellers.

After 18 years in the Architecture and design space, a Masters Degree and an Executive MBA, Najee celebrates over 16 years with Rotana Hotels, where he is currently heading a team of architects, interior designers and engineers responsible for monitoring the aggressive expansion plans of the company within the coming years.

Najee is also the co-founder of WitWork, a platform providing digital nomads, freelancers and entrepreneurs a multitude of workspaces outside the box of a standard office.

We are excited to share this one, enjoy and make sure to share with a friend.

We are back with Series 3 of Your Next Generation Hotel Podcast, this season Mark heads to the Middle East to chat all things Hospitality, with some of the industries best leaders 🚀

Our first guest this season is one you won’t want to miss 👀

We sit down with Nathalie Cockayne, General Manager at Meliá Desert Palm, to discuss the highlights of her career thus far, inspiring future talent in the industry, and how Nathalie stays ahead of the ever-changing guest expectations at Meliá Desert Palm.

Jon Davis is the CTO of Village Hotels. Village Hotels operates 31 hotels in the United Kingdom, with a plan to open 50 by 2025. The company was founded in 1995, and is now owned by Denver-based private equity firm KSL Capital Partners.

Jon has a fascinating background from the operations side as hotel manager to running his own hotel technology consultancy business to his current role with Village Hotels. We discussed everything from the impact of covid to the use of chatbots after analysing call centre data. 

It's a must listen episode.

Hope you enjoy!