11-13 May 2025
Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah, Riyadh
Profile
Saurabh Tiwari
General Manager
Taj Dubai/ IHCL
Saurabh Tiwari was appointed General Manager of Taj Dubai, Business Bay in August 2021, leading a team of over 400 employees, 296 guest rooms and suites and 5 exquisite restaurant and lounges. Started his career in India and then moved to Dubai however he had the ambition to move forward and leave his footprint in different cities around the globe. Working his way up starting from London, Mallorca, Ibiza and then finally the City of Dreams – Dubai.
Using his extensive experience in the food and beverage industry, luxury hotel management and pre openings from around the world, he has brough new insights to Taj Dubai within 2 years. From the year of appointment in 2021 to 2022, occupancy increased by 23.5%, revenue by 43.5% and ADR by 16.2%. In 2023, Saurabh managed to exceed budgets and almost matched occupancy and revenue of 2022, keeping in mind that the first 3 months of 2022 included EXPO2020.
Having worked for brands across Middle East, Asia and Europe, Saurabh has a comprehensive mindset and key understanding of consumer behaviours and their developing needs and wants. Saurabh is a strong believer in ‘keeping your employees happy, will lead to happy customers’. This leads him to do constant checks on staff accommodations, to make sure living standards are up to mark, includes healthy meals in the staff canteen for healthy living, train and develop all staff, which include Arabic lessons for employees to cater to the UAE market and empowering all middle managers to help them grow within the industry. He goes into every detail when it comes to employee satisfaction. He is proficient in guiding and motivating the team towards achieving visionary goals by efficiently positioning them with Taj values and brand knowledge. Tiwari religiously believes in an open-door policy, be it the Director or any other staff, his doors are always open to talk to and discuss any issues that may arise. He will never let any guest leave the premises of Taj Dubai without a smile.
Because of Saurabh’s strong F&B background, he is very involved in upgrading all the outlets. Recently Tree House and Miss Tess have got a brand-new look and menu with an implementation of live music and much more. He works very closely with the Executive Chef in creating memorable experiences for his guest and ensures his guest leaves as positive ambassador of the Taj experience.
Taj Dubai, is the flagship of Taj Hotels in the UAE opened in 2015 and offers a modern and contemporary setting with touches of beautiful artistry and legendary Taj service, known as ‘Tajness’.
‘If we win, we win together, you can’t always cross the road alone’- Saurabh Tiwari