Organisation
We operate according to a decentralised
organisational structure, with General
Managers (GMs) in each hotel and Area
Vice Presidents (AVPs) in different regions.
The GM of each hotel reports directly to
the relevant Area Vice Presidents and the
company Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The Corporate Sustainability Committee
Members (CSC) are managed under the
COO who reports directly to the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO).
In every hotel, an Environment, Health
& Safety (EHS) Manager or Officer is
tasked with incorporating sustainability
management into relevant Rotana hotels
and reports directly to the hotel GMs and
indirectly to the Director of EHS in the
head office who also reports to the COO.
Selim El Zyr graduated from EHL in 1970. After completion of his post graduate studies in
Cornell, Selim held his first job as Chief Steward in the Waldorf in New York. Selim then
spent 12 years with Hilton International in Germany, Spain, Egypt, Canada and the UAE
until he earned the title of Regional Director before he decided to shift into industrial
catering by establishing a leading Lebanese fast food chain in 1982. After Lebanon, he then
moved to the UAE with Abu Dhabi National Hotels and he reached the position of Vice
President Operations of Palmariva Hotels. In 1992, he co-founded Rotana.
Selim El Zyr
President & CEO
Economist by education and a graduate of New York University, Nasser Al Nowais founded
and chaired for 14 years the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company, the largest hotel and
industrial catering company in the region where he acquired vast experience in the
hospitality industry.
He was also Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Fund where he administered numerous
touristic, industrial and agricultural investments as well as infrastructural projects in the
Middle East and Africa. In addition to the prominent roles held in the world of banking,
insurance, airline and tourism investment, Nasser was also Under Secretary of the Ministry
of Finance and Industry of the UAE Government. In 1992, he co-founded Rotana.
Nasser Al Nowais
Chairman
