GERALD LAWLESS

Chairman, World Travel & Tourism Council; Head of Tourism and Hospitality, Dubai Holding
@WTTC

Gerald Lawless joined Dubai Holding in 2016, having served for eighteen years at the helm of the Jumeirah Group, assuming a new leadership position responsible for tourism and hospitality in Dubai Holding. At Dubai Holding, Lawless advises Dubai Holding on strategic tourism and hospitality projects within the Dubai Holding portfolio. Before joining Jumeirah Group in 1997, Lawless held a twenty-three-year long career with Forte Hotels. He is chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council; member of the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Travel and Tourism of the World Economic Forum, fellow member of the Institute of Hospitality, member of the International Advisory Board of the Ecole Hôtelière Lausanne, chancellor of the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, and honourary president of the Jumeirah Group. He holds several honorary doctorate degrees: from Middlesex University Dubai; in business administration in hospitality management from the Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island; and in law from the National University of Ireland, Galway.