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<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1988, they welcomed their first 1,000 tourists, personally greeting them at the airport, escorting them to hotels, and showing the city\u2019s attractions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Emirati hotelier Nasser Al Nowais was helming the Abu Dhabi National Hospitality (ADNH) group in 1987, he had a problem \u2014 there were not enough people to stay in the company\u2019s five-star hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt that time, we had no tourists in Abu Dhabi,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI said I want you to bring me tourists from Germany and Switzerland. So, they went to a travel fair in Berlin and in the first year, in 1988, we had the first 1,000 tourists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to 2025, Abu Dhabi welcomed 1.4 million overnight visitors in the first quarter alone \u2014 a remarkable leap from those early days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nasser shared his story on the opening day of the 20th Future Hospitality Summit at Madinat Jumeirah on Monday (October 27). The three-day event will bring together some of the world’s most influential hospitality investment decision-makers to connect, exchange knowledge and explore new partnerships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was joined on stage by Gerald Lawless, who arrived in Dubai in the late 1970s \u2014 Gerald later joined the Jumeirah Group in 1997 to help launch the\u00a0ultra-luxurious Burj Al Arab. Together, they took audiences down memory lane, sharing rare photos and stories from the UAE\u2019s hospitality rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They shared that the first 1,000 visitors were personally greeted at the airport, escorted to hotels, shown the city\u2019s attractions, and sent home with lasting memories. \u201cWe used to receive them ourselves,\u201d Nasser said. \u201cWe wanted them to experience our hospitality \u2014 the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Nasser, hospitality was more than business \u2014 it was nation-building. He credits his close relationship with the late\u00a0Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE\u2019s Founding Father, for shaping his early vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Nasreen Abdulla<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSheikh Zayed was very happy to see tourists come to the emirate,\u201d he said. \u201cHe wanted to encourage people to come and to see our culture and see what we are doing in this part of the world. He wanted us to build a restaurant that would serve authentic Emirati cuisine. So, we did and he came to visit us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by his vision, Nasser laid the foundation for what would become one of the\u00a0world\u2019s most vibrant tourism industries\u00a0\u2014 a journey that would eventually lead him to co-found Rotana Hotels, which now manages more than 80 properties around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reminiscing about his time at the group, Gerald recalled the time when he received a call at 1am informing him that Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was on his way to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Nasreen Abdulla<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, I jumped in my jeans and sped towards the hotel,\u201d he chuckled. \u201cI got three speeding tickets on the way. Finally, this white four-wheel drive with the number one came up. He kept smiling with a twinkle in his eyes and said, see, I gave you a full hour to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shared that Sheikh Mohammed had come to inspect the hotel auditorium for an executive meeting with his counsellors and administrators the next day. \u201cHe wanted to see the setup and lighting,\u201d Gerald said. \u201cThis is the kind of dedication and attention to detail we saw from him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerald also masterminded some of Dubai\u2019s most memorable marketing moments \u2014 from\u00a0Roger Federer and Andre Agassi\u2019s tennis match\u00a0on the Burj Al Arab helipad to Tiger Woods teeing off into the sky. \u201cThose stunts helped put Dubai on CNN and the world stage,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a moment of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Nasreen Abdulla<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the grand hotels and record-breaking architecture, both men agree that the UAE\u2019s real success story lies in its people. \u201cThe most important thing is to treat your people like human beings \u2014 like you would treat your own villagers,\u201d said Nasser. \u201cWhen you invest in your team, everything else follows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerald echoed the sentiment, sharing Jumeirah\u2019s three golden rules: \u201cAlways smile and greet guests first,\u201d he said. \u201cNever say ‘no’ as your first response. Treat every colleague with respect. It\u2019s simple, but it works. Respect is the foundation of hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Khaleej times<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Published: 28 October 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 1988, they welcomed their first 1,000 tourists, personally greeting them at the airport, escorting them to hotels, and showing the city\u2019s attractions When Emirati hotelier Nasser Al Nowais was helming the Abu Dhabi National Hospitality (ADNH) group in 1987, he had a problem \u2014 there were not enough people to stay in the company\u2019s five-star hotel. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5325,5327,5323,5324,5326],"class_list":["post-35118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dubai-ruler-leadership","tag-sheikh-zayed-legacy","tag-tourism-development-uae","tag-uae-royal-vision","tag-uae-tourism-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35120,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35118\/revisions\/35120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}