David Atkinson
VP Business Development – EMEA
Areas of Expertise:
- Branding & Marketing
- Sales & Commercial
- Operational Advisory
Professional Biography:
David has a strong background in commercial and operational hospitality rooted in EMEA&I regions. He provides in-depth sales, marketing, and development expertise, combined with extensive operational experience. In particular, David has a successful track record of working with organisations to help them deliver superior results. More specifically he has more than 20 years of experience in the wider Middle East and Africa region having worked with internationally branded and independent hotels as well as hospitality and tourism organisations.
As well as guiding hotel developers with feasibility studies and best-use studies, he selects operators to secure optimum management contract terms and assists with design and procurement. Given his strong hotel operations background, he also provides hotel operators with ongoing own Co-representation. He has worked on projects across the world, including the development and opening of over 30 hotels across diverse regions that include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Lebanon. David has previously held senior corporate roles with Habtoor Hospitality, InterContinental Hotels Group and Millennium Copthorne.
Qualifications:
David holds a Business Studies Diploma from the University of Sunderland, a Postgraduate Diploma in Hotel Management from Leeds Beckett University and a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University.
Passions:
In his free time, David enjoys photography, fell walking and cycling.
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