Salim ToumaHospitality, Pre-Opening, Business Development & Restructure
contact details
areas of expertise
- Business transformation
- Restructuring and turnaround
- Integration
- Growth strategy
- M&A transaction support
education
- MBA, University of Liverpool
- Hotel Management, Beirut Lebanon
An avid enthusiast for hospitality industry, Salim has a track record spanning more than 25-years of successful positions in the field of revenue management, operations, project management, strategic planning, hotels turnaround, brand development, pre-opening & conversion, F&B design and concept in major international markets.
Salim’s early professional development started with his managing revenue generation for the hotels at the Intercontinental Hotels Group.
Post 2007, Touma held senior management positions of Director of Revenue Management at Dusit International Hotels and Resorts, and VP-Sales & Revenue Management at Hospitality Management Holding, Dubai, where he assisted in opening and operating over 48 hotels.
Salim learnt fast, and fell on his feet. By age 32, he had earned the appellation of being the youngest executive in charge of the sales and revenue department for a large hotel management company. There, he successfully steered the company’s digital transformation by automating the online booking system for over 48 hotels and contributing to the overall commercial success of the company.
He has worked with all forms of stakeholders from private owners and independent properties, to international chain properties and food and beverage outlets. He has managed and led numerous hotel openings as well as rebrands, conversions and takeovers with both branded and unbranded hotels.
Salim’s passion in F&B moved him from hotels to creating entertainment concepts that entice crowds even in a market as competitive as Dubai.
He understands impeccable service and high-end food and beverage like few others, having learnt at the feet of masters at the Le Relais et Chateaux, Salmontni, and other boutique establishments. Nor is he a stranger to casual dining and nightlife, given that he was tasked with introducing authentic new concepts to a busy hospitality scene such as
Donatello Restaurant and Lounge- an upscale Italian restaurant in the World Trade Centre, Scarlet Cardinal- Sofitel, JBR, Dubai, Red Hot & Chili, and many others.
He is an Associate Partner of the Polish consultancy ‘Top Hospitality Consulting’ which provides consultancy to hotels and tourism and travel-related enterprises.
publications
-
THE DEATH OF A POSTMAN
Picture this: It’s the year 2000, and a Danish postman, Lars, wakes up at dawn, grabs his stack of letters, and begins his route. He’s the lifeblood of neighbourhoods, the bearer of news, love letters, and overdue bills.
Fast forward to 2026—Lars is no longer needed. The Danish postal service has just announced its final letter delivery, shutting down a 400-year-old tradition. The culprit? Digitalisation. (The Guardian, 2025).But Lars isn’t the only one whose world has changed.
Back in 1999, a company in Poland called InPost was setting up shop. It started as a humble challenger to the state-run postal system, but instead of clinging to the old ways, it saw the writing on the wall. The future wasn’t in letters but in parcels, e-commerce, and speed. So, it pioneered (APMs) automated parcel lockers, making deliveries more efficient, sustainable, and better suited to the online shopping addicts we’ve all become. Today, InPost is Europe’s leading out-of-home e-commerce delivery provider, proving that adapting to change isn’t just smart—it’s survival (InPost, 2023).
And they weren’t alone.
The Businesses That Saw the Future
March 20, 2025 in BLOG -
OLD SCHOOL MARKETING STILL THE KEY TO BRAND SUCCESS TODAY
Imagine you’re launching a new line of luxury chocolates. You can’t just make a great product and expect customers to flock to it. You need a strategy that puts customers at the heart of every decision. That’s where a customer value–driven marketing strategy comes into play.
At its core, marketing is about creating customer value and strong relationships—not just selling products. To do this effectively, businesses must ask two fundamental questions:Which customers will we serve? (Segmentation & Targeting)
How will we create value for them? (Differentiation & Positioning)
Step 1: Finding the Right CustomersMarch 20, 2025 in BLOG -
THE FUTURE IS HERE
4,000 Jobs Lost — Are You Next?
This morning’s news suddenly made my coffee taste bitter. It’s not as if I didn’t expect it — I’ve listened to the debates, watched the TED Talks, and read the predictions. But today, it’s no longer just a futuristic warning — it’s reality.
Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, has announced that 4,000 roles will be cut over the next three years and replaced by AI.
March 20, 2025 in BLOG