An exceptional opportunity presents itself for a Director of Middle East to be part of an iconic London Opening. The landmark Old War Office located in historic Whitehall is being transformed into an iconic Raffles ultra-luxury hotel and deluxe residences.
Reporting into the Director of Sales, you will work to establish relationships with embassies, family offices, government offices, bookers, agents, agencies, DMCs and private clients in the UK and overseas. You will firmly position Raffles London at The OWO as one of the leading hotels in London for high-end Middle Eastern clientele.
What are we looking for in a Director of Middle East? Someone who is organised and efficientSomeone who possesses excellent interpersonal and communication skillsSomeone who has a minimum of 5 years' experience in a similar role in a luxury environmentSomeone who has an extensive network of contacts and relationships within the Middle East marketKey Responsibilities To fully penetrate the Middle East market for Raffles London and build its reputation as one of the top tier luxury hotels in London for official delegations, business, leisure, family and extended stays To work with the Director of Sales & Marketing and the Director of Sales to create and implement a sales strategy in accordance with budgetTo attend sales missions, networking events, trade shows and exhibitions as requiredTo prospect opportunities through telephone calls, virtual presentations and in-person visits in order to research, penetrate and develop new accountsTo identify and lead the account management of key clients to ensure revenue is maximizedTo create a portfolio of top accounts and keep consistently updatedTo identify potential changes in the market in a timely manner and pivot to ensure that revised strategies are quickly in place in order to stimulate alternative demand channelsTo monitor competitor activity in the market and to be consistently up to date with school holiday schedules, state visits, cultural occasions and political and economic changeTo coordinate logistics & funding and accompany fam trips to Raffles London in order to increase awareness, knowledge and loyalty among key opinion leaders and top bookers from the Middle East To work closely with the on-property Reservations Team to ensure all requests are dealt with in a timely manner and are presented with creativity and imaginationTo have a good understanding of revenue management and work collaboratively with the Director of Revenue Strategy to in order to achieve hotel goalsTo manage the sales system to ensure all information is correct and updated and that all bookings, enquiries and activities are logged to maintain a comprehensive account management system and clean databaseTo work within the boundaries of the budgeted and forecasted sales expensesTo ensure payment schedules are made clear to clients and are adhered to at all timesTo submit reports to the Director of Sales when required To ensure clear, positive and regular communication with the Accor National Account Managers, the Regional Sales Offices and the Luxury Sales Team and to work collaboratively to achieve all goalsTo work with the Director of Sales and the Director of Communications on trade marketing pieces and other ad hoc marketing and promotional activities that will support the sales strategyTo be entrepreneurial, highly creative and think beyond the boundariesTo have a very strong knowledge of hotel operations and be 'hands on' for VIP arrivals, delegations and throughout high-profile staysTo take time to get to know customers, to build lasting relationships and be always committed to service excellence
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