Mr Adil Mubarak
Vice President Operations & Country Head, Singapore, RedDoorz

Moderator

Mr Darrell Tan
Head of Development Planning and Feasibility,
Radisson Hotel Group Asia Pacific

Panellists

Mr Loh Lik Peng
Founder / Director, Unlisted Collection
Chairman, SHATEC Board of Directors

Dr Detlev Remy
Associate Professor
Deputy Cluster Director, Design & Specialised Businesses
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)

Mr Jesper Palmqvist
Area Director – Asia Pacific, STR

Mr Adil Mubarak
Vice President, Operations & Country Head, Singapore, RedDoorz

Professor Jochen Wirtz

Vice Dean, MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing, National University of Singapore

Jochen Wirtz is Vice Dean, MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. Professor Wirtz is a leading authority on service management, and has over 200 publications, including six features in Harvard Business Review and over 10 books which include Intelligent Automation - Learn How to Harness Artificial Intelligence and Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy, which is in its 9th edition.

In recognition of his excellence in research and teaching, Prof. Wirtz has received over 45 awards, which notably, includes the Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award in 2019 (the highest recognition of the American Marketing Association (AMA) service community), and the prestigious, top university-level Outstanding Educator Award at NUS

Mr Gilbert Madhavan

General Manager, One Farrer Hotel

With over 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Gilbert Madhavan has worked in Asia, Australia and the Caribbean, spending the last 10 years taking the helm at One Farrer Hotel as its General Manager.

In the years prior, Gilbert had made a name for himself at Raffles Hotels and Resorts. During his tenure, the hotels under his charge received various accolades including the prestigious five-star Diamond Award by American Academy of Hospitality Sciences and special recognition by Conde Nast Traveller and Travel and Leisure as the world’s finest.

Most notably, he successfully opened and managed Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap. The highlight of his stint in Cambodia was the high-profile fundraising charity concert he organised in 2002, featuring world renowned Spanish tenor, Jose Carreras, accompanied by Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the legendary Angkor Wat which attracted 1,200 guests from the world across to raise funds for victims of landmines.

For his outstanding achievement in the hospitality industry, Gilbert was presented the International ManagementAction Award by the Chartered Management Institute, Singapore and SPRING Singapore, in 2014.

Mr Vivek Bhalla

Vice President, Operations, South East Asia and Korea, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

Vice President, Operations, South East Asia and Korea, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 

Vivek Bhalla is the Vice President of Operations for South East Asia and Korea for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). He is responsible for operations across South East Asia and Korea (SEAK) which is made up of over 100 open hotels across nine brands with more than 80 in the pipeline. Based in Singapore, Mr Bhalla has a wealth of experience working in challenging and complex markets, across South East Asia and Asia Pacific. Before relocating back to Singapore, he had spent two years in India as Head of South West Asia at IHG.

A veteran in the hospitality industry, Vivek has also served as the Senior Director Operations – South Asia with Starwood Hotels and Resorts and was responsible for the Pre-Opening and Operations of the group’s 40+ hotels in India and South Asia. He has also held senior management roles in Sales and Marketing as Director of Revenue Management for Asia Pacific for Starwood Hotels, Revenue Manager, Corporate - Hyatt International Hotels and Revenue Manager, South East Asia - Hyatt International Hotels.

Ms Sandra Tan

Director of Esteem Communications & Training
Corporate Coach & Media Consultant

Trainer for Digital Marketing, Personal Branding, Social Media, Ecommerce & Affiliate Marketing

Sandra is the Founder & Director of Esteem Communications & Training Consultancy, with more than 25 years’ experience in corporate and academia work. She is an emerging voice in LinkedIn on hospitality, retail, entrepreneurship and a speaker on digital marketing trends and personal development.

As a Consultant, she managed accounts in retail, hospitality, leisure attractions, property and the charity sector. Some of her clients include Salvatore Ferragamo, Hard Rock Café, OCBC Property and Very Special Arts Singapore.

Sandra has also worked in academic institutions such as the Nanyang Polytechnic and Singapore Management University. She is a certified practitioner and Coach for Design Thinking and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and has conducted a Design Thinking course in Chengdu.