Maurice Flanagan, vice chairman and group president of Emirates, the international airline of the United Arab Emirates, said he was ‘overwhelmed’ at being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for services to tourism in Arabia during the opening day of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai yesterday.
At a lunchtime ceremony, Emirates’ chairman HH Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum joined the delegates to the conference in praising Flanagan for his commitment, vast wealth of experience and modesty in a role at the helm of one of the world’s most successful airlines.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Maurice Flanagan on a daily basis, since 1985, and he has shown his commitment to Emirates and to Dubai with hard work and integrity … I believe he is a legend and I am delighted to present this award,” he said.
As an AHIC Lifetime Achievement Award winner Flanagan joins a ‘Hall of Fame’ that includes HRH Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman, Kingdom Hotel Investments (2005) and His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minister and ruler of Dubai (2006).
Receiving the award, Flanagan said he was ‘overwhelmed’ and praised his colleagues at Emirates who had contributed to the success of the airline: “This is far too generous as I have been supported over the years by a team of talented colleagues,” he said.
“Since the airline started in 1985, I have had the privilege of working with the brightest and best of airline chairmen in Shaikh Ahmed,” he added.
In addition, Flanagan quipped that his wife, Audrey, was perhaps more deserving of a lifetime achievement award.
“It is often said that behind every successful man, there is a surprised woman…”
While Flanagan is best known as an aviation man, the Emirates group under his direction has expanded in to hotels and leisure, with Emirates Holiday and Dnata Holidays expected to grow at around 20 per cent annually during the next 10 years.
“We also own and operate the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, own Le Meridien Al Aqah Resort in Fujairah and will open the Emirates Marina Hotel & Residence in September, while work has started on a 70-storey twin tower project in Dubai.”
According to AHIC co-organiser, Jonathan Worsley, Flanagan won this prestigious award following online nominations made by the AHIC 50-strong advisory board comprising of key industry leaders.
“The Lifetime Achievement nominations were made during the inaugural advisory board for AHIC 2007 which saw Flanagan win the most votes. This award recognises Flanagan’s 20-plus years of dedication to the growth of the aviation, tourism & hospitality sectors in Arabia through his steadfast role at Emirates.”
“The conference theme, Global Aspirations, certainly reflects well with the critical role Flanagan has played in developing Emirates into a truly global brand and business. He has shown remarkable vision and leadership in creating a company that has set the benchmark for others,” Worsley said.
Worsley confirmed that AHIC 2007, a curtain raiser to the Arabian Travel Market, had achieved its target of attracting more than 1000 delegates representing the ‘who’s who’ of the global hotel investment industry, and had achieved a role as a vital industry-networking event for both regional and international captains of hospitality.
Platinum sponsors of the 2007 event are: Kingdom Hotel Investments; Istithmar Hotels; Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Rezidor Hotel Group, Bawadi and IFA Hotels & Resorts.
AHIC gold sponsors are: Accor; Arabian Travel Market; Coral International Hotels, Resorts & Spas; Emaar Hotels & Resorts; Emirates; Etihad Airways; Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Inc; Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts; GuestInvest; Hamilton Hotel Partners; Horwath HTL Group; HVS International; InterContinental Hotels & Resorts; Interval International; Jumeirah; Marriott International; Morgan Stanley; Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts; Northcourse Leisure Real Estate Solutions; OBM International; Rakeen; Rotana; Shaza Hotels; Sidley Austin; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc; Strategic Solutions; The Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East, WestLB and Wyndham Hotel Group International.
Media sponsors are: AME Info, CNBC Arabia, HOTELS, Hotel & Motel Management, Sleeper and TTN.
AHIC 2007 is jointly organised by The Bench and the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED).
The Bench
Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of The Bench and a consultant to CB Richard Ellis Hotels, is one of the organisers and founders of the International Hotel Investment Forum held each year in Berlin. In 2005, he was responsible for launching the successful Arabian Hotel Investment Conference with MEED Conferences. Worsley sits as an advisor to the World Travel & Tourism Council, which represents many of the leading companies operating worldwide in the travel and tourism industry. The Bench (www.thebench.com), provides online real time daily benchmarking data for the hotel industry in over 96 destinations worldwide.
jonathan.worsley@thebench.com on +44 1483 835794
or gillian.powell@thebench.com on +44 208 297 2053
MEED
MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) is internationally recognised as providing essential information for anyone doing business in, or with, the Middle East and North Africa. MEED now attracts over 70,000 individual readers each week, across 70 countries worldwide. MEED Conferences is part of the leading information brand in the Middle East working to provide delegates with the very latest business sensitive information. For more than a decade, MEED Conferences has organised events attended by senior government officials and thousands of international business people. The conference series is aimed at companies active or seeking business in the markets of the Middle East. MEED is well established as the source of strategic and accurate regional information placing it in a unique position to bring together high-calibre speakers.
