Insider Stories

Dusit International has appointed Mr. Rami Massoud as Vice President of Development for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Rami Massoud will be based in Dusit’s regional office in Dubai. Fluent in Arabic, English, and French, he is an Egyptian national with over 25 years of experience in hotel development, real estate investment, and asset management. During his career, Massoud has worked for hotel brands such as Marriott, Starwood, and Four Seasons and spearheaded projects for top developers including Dubai Holding, Power Holding, and Shuaa Capital across the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Most recently, he served as the Managing Director of Hotel Assets Acquisition Consultants. He holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel management and advanced certification in hotel real estate investment & asset management from Cornell University. Massoud said, “Joining Dusit International is a remarkable opportunity to contribute to a brand with a rich heritage and an incredibly bright future. I am excited to help drive Dusit’s expansion in the EMEA region by identifying new growth opportunities and fostering relationships that will enable us to bring our distinctive Thai-inspired gracious hospitality to more guests around the world.” Massoud is now responsible for the growth of Dusit’s unique portfolio of Dusit Hotels and Resorts across key existing and emerging destinations in the EMEA region.

Stuart Deeson has been promoted to the group’s vice president of operations across all of MEA. This brings the number of hotels under his remit to more than 30, double what he was handling previously as area VP for Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Jordan and KSA. The top job puts him in charge of seven brands, including Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Alila, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. It also sees him managing 9,000 staff and close to 6,000 keys. His responsibilities will only grow as the US company readies to grow by 80 percent in Saudi Arabia, fuelled by its involvement in the Kingdom’s gigaprojects. Hyatt will open the likes of Park Hyatt Diriyah Gate, Grand Hyatt The Red Sea and Miraval The Red Sea (the latter is the regional debut of the brand).   Stuart Deeson’s rise through Hyatt   Deeson began his hospitality career at the age of 16 in the family country house hotel business, before joining the Hyatt family in 1995 and gaining extensive knowledge of Asia and the Middle East markets over nearly three decades. He started his journey with the company as business development manager at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, and got promoted two years later to director of business development at Hyatt Regency Xian in China. In 1999, Deeson was appointed the hotel’s director of rooms and successfully climbed the career ladder to his first executive assistant manager position in 2000, at Grand Hyatt Seoul in Korea. Continuing his journey across Asia, Deeson moved to Japan in 2002 to join the pre-opening team of Grand Hyatt Tokyo as EAM, rooms. Three years later, he took on his first GM role at Hyatt Regency Johor Bahru in Malaysia, before making the exciting move to the Middle East as GM of Park Hyatt Dubai in 2010. Deeson moved to the UAE capital in 2014 and held GM positions at Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt properties before taking on his former role as area vice president and general manager of Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi. Srdjan Milekovic, senior vice president operations – Europe, Africa and Middle East, Hyatt, said, “I am delighted that Stuart has stepped into this new role. With his deep knowledge and experience across the Middle East and Africa, I know he will deliver great value for our colleagues, owners and guests, and successfully drive Hyatt’s purpose forward in the region.”