Profile

David Thomson

Senior Vice President
The First Group Hospitality

One of the region’s most well-known hospitality industry professionals, David is leveraging his talent and vast experience to help drive the growth of The First Group Hospitality which has an impressive portfolio of 12 hotels and hospitality assets. Since joining The First Group in 2018, David has celebrated several impressive milestones, he established the company’s Hotel Management Division, including overseeing the launch of the firm’s award-winning The First Collection hotel brand. The first property to open under the innovative lifestyle brand, The First Collection at Jumeirah Village Circle, opened in September 2021, and since then has gone on to forge a reputation as one of the city’s most popular upscale hotels. In 2022, the hotel was named one of the 25 Hottest New Hotels for 2022 worldwide by TripAdvisor – the world’s largest independent traveller reviews website. The only hotel in the Middle East and Africa to make the list. David was also instrumental in delivering the successful opening of the brand’s second and third hotels in 2022 and 2023 and on the 1st July 2024 David oversaw the transition of the Wyndham Dubai Marina to The First Collection Marina. David has also played a key role in driving The First Group Hotels’ sustainability agenda, which has seen properties operating within the portfolio eliminate single-use plastics, reduce energy, food waste and water usage, and increase recycling. All the hotels in the portfolio are Green Key certified. He is actively developing the firm’s pipeline focusing on third party hotel management as the region transitions from a focus on Hotel Management Agreements with the major brands to franchise agreements. Prior to his role at The First Group David spent almost 17 years with the Dubai-based JA Resorts & Hotels whose portfolio spans nine hotels and leisure venues across the UAE as well as luxury resorts in the Maldives and Seychelles. In his last 5 years at the company, he was their Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his professional achievements, David is actively involved in fundraising for charities such as FFLV India, Dubai Autism, Al Noor Centre for Special Needs, Rashid Centre for the Disabled and the All As One Orphanage in Sierra Leone. David is a graduate of Scotland’s University of Stirling, where he earned a Joint Honours Degree