IHSM student Božo Bratičević and professors Besim Agušaj and Kevin Walker are participating in EuroCHRIE 2014 conference in Dubai, taking place from October 6-9.

The European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education (EuroCHRIE) is the official federation for Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and Africa of International CHRIE (ICHRIE), the leading international organisation that supports education and training for the world's largest industry. The topic of EuroCHRIE 2014 conference is HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM FUTURES and you can find out more details at: https://www.emiratesacademy.edu/en/EuroCHRIE_2014/EuroCHRIE_2014/

While waiting for our flight in Vienna, we run into ex-treasurer of Eurochrie and chairwoman of iChrie. I do not recall their names, but they recognized professor Agusaj from the EuroChrie in Dubrovnik and they had only the best comments about the conference that took place 3 years ago. Right away we started talking about Dubai and ongoing trends in hospitality! We arrived in Dubai around 9 PM local time. The airport seems enormous; the awareness of marketing is instantly seen. It was a challenge to even look around and notice all of advertising. Directions at the airport are fairly simple. We could see people from all over the world but the immigration officers where the first ones wearing the traditional white dress. Note that the local females are dressed in all black dresses. There is a special exit just for travellers that need taxi where large number of taxi drivers are pulling up one by one and picking up people instantly - perfect organization. We took of to our hotel, Le meridian Fairway, which was some 15 minutes away. The driver did not try to initiate contact during the drive. Upon arriving, the valet opened the door for us immediately and took our luggage. The front desk agents are very pleasant and friendly but their English - not that fluent. Still, it didn't take us long to get checked in and we got some recommendations. We went out to for a late dinner and it was all quite apparent that all restaurant staff was not domestic, mostly from India or Philippines. Let us see what the next day will bring.