Snowball effect for Hot Hoteliers networking group

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O’Neill has grand ambitions for the Hot Hoteliers networking organisation, which could see the group go international.

It started as a small networking event and has since snowballed to become an industry force in Dubai, with plans to later expand across the region and even go international.

Hot Hoteliers was founded by Dubai-based Starwood employees Erin O'Neill and Jitendra Jain as a means to keep up with the latest property developments happening across Dubai.

"I recall specifically coming back from [InterContinental] Dubai Festival City after it opened, and I was trying to stay up to speed in the industry with the hotels that were coming around," O'Neill said.

"I thought it would be lovely to have a forum where people could meet up on a regular basis, because you meet hoteliers who have devoted their life, like you have, to this industry, to their clients and to their guests alike. You always say ‘let's meet up' and you never do."

With an initial target of 40 hoteliers, the pair organised the first Hot Hoteliers evening in March - and 97 showed up. The next event had more than 200, and subsequent events are pushing 400 hoteliers, ranging from line staff to executive committee members and even vice-presidents.

"Obviously it has been received pretty well," O'Neill added.

"It is a support platform for people to meet friends old and new and more so we were quite careful about the kind of people that came along to these events because it needs to be people that are open minded, that are open to sharing ideas, and sharing knowledge.

"In my eyes, in the marketplace right now, there is so much business there for everyone that we actually need each other, the hoteliers do, more so than we potentially need our clients because we are trying to keep our clients happy and are therefore trying to meet their requirements."

The group's nights are also a source of education, with motivational speakers, cocktail classes and even salsa dancing available.

And now that the concept has been received so well in Dubai, O'Neill is confident it has international applications.

"We are confident that this is chapter one in Dubai," she said.

"The aspiration for it over the next couple of years is to spread across the Middle East in particular - this is one of the most rapidly growing destinations right now. But long term the goal is to operate on a global scale."

More: www.hothoteliers.com

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