The First Group Hospitality Appoints Khaled El Sharbatly as Director of Guest Engagement

• With a proven track record of driving performance and fostering employee engagement, El Sharbatly will play a key role in strengthening the company’s reservations strategy

 Dubai, UAE, 22 October 2025: The First Group Hospitality is delighted to announce the appointment of Khaled El Sharbatly as Director of Guest Engagement.

 An experienced business leader with over 25 years in customer engagement, sales, reservations, and front office roles with leading hotel brands across the Middle East and Africa, El Sharbatly joins The First Group Hospitality after 15 years with Marriott International, where he held multiple leadership positions. Most recently, he led the company’s Dubai Customer Engagement Centre (CEC), overseeing central reservations operations for nearly 70 hotels in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

 Throughout his tenure at Marriott International, El Sharbatly received numerous accolades, including the Reservations Team of the Year Award and the Associates Engagement Survey Award. He guided the Dubai CEC team to achieve 135% of their enrollment targets, ranking first globally in 2024 across the entire hotel group, and drove Forbes Luxury Properties Audit scores up to 98%.

 In his new role, El Sharbatly will work closely with The First Group Hospitality’s reservations teams, as well as revenue management, sales, marketing, finance, and food & beverage divisions, alongside property general managers, to streamline collaboration and sustain the highest service standards as the group expands its footprint in and beyond the Middle East.

“Khaled brings to this new role a remarkable knowledge of operations, including process optimisation, customer service strategies, and performance metrics. I am confident Khaled’s knowledge will be invaluable in implementing best practices to enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency across our portfolio of diverse hotels and dining outlets.”

Tom Stevens, The First Group Hospitality’s Senior Vice President - Operations,