Leading hotel industry professionals are set to meet next month at the largest annual gathering of general managers and hospitality industry stakeholders in Maldives.

Organised by local hospitality industry publication Hotelier Maldives, the second edition of GM Forum would take place on April 19 in Hulhulé Island Hotel (HIH), and would feature Hussain ‘Champa’ Afeef, a tourism industry pioneer and Chairman of Crown Company, and Jesper Palmqvist, Area Director for the Asia Pacific Region at STR Global, as keynote speakers.

Palmqvist would also give a presentation delving deeply into data on the Maldives – both recent and long term – to understand the main key performance indicators, and supply and demand balance, and compare that to other relevant markets. He would also look into profit and loss data to foresee a profitability performance comparison, and analyse what lies ahead for the country’s hospitality industry with regard to its performance over the past two years.

At the summit, Mohamed Solah, Manager, Infrastructure Development at Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), and Mohamed Shahdy Anwar, Senior Counsel at Suood Anwar and Co. LLP, would give presentations.

This year’s forum would also include panel discussions facilitated by general managers focusing on employment law, sustainability in resort management, importance of reinvesting in properties, new openings, and destination marketing. The panels would also be themed around transportation, statistics and forecasting, environment and sustainability.

A total of 46 general managers have confirmed their attendance at the summit, which brings together industry leaders, policymakers, resort operators and owners, and other hospitality industry stakeholders including suppliers. Registration in the GM Forum for general managers expires on March 31; the initial deadline extended due to increased demand for registrations.

World of Outdoor, a Sri Lanka-based provider of outdoor and indoor furniture products and solutions, and Allied Insurance, the leading insurer of the Maldives are Platinum Sponsors of the event, while Evo Home and Sonee Hardware have been confirmed as Gold Sponsors. Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) and Cyprea Card Centre are Silver Sponsors of the annual gathering this year.

The first edition of the GM Forum was held on May 25, 2016, and saw the attendance of over 100 delegates including over 20 general managers.