OUR INSTRUCTORS

The Lead Culinary Arts instructor at DCT comes with a long history in the kitchens of established hotels throughout the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Christian has worked with Marriott International for over 26 years, of which for 12 years he held the position of Executive Chef. His personal passion is in large-scale catering, in the detail and fundamentals of cooking skills and culinary management.

Alexia Doherty has a strong passion for retail business and for delivering the highest standards of customer service. With a career spanning over 17 years, she worked as a Department Manager in Harrods, London for 8 years overseeing a department of 200 employees, and then for LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics where she was responsible for the wholesale and retail sales of Guerlain across Central London’s department stores namely Harrods, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Peter Jones, Fortnum and Mason, John Lewis and House of Fraser. Alexia holds a BA (Hons) degree from Cambridge University.

Elham Bolooki is an Academic Advisor and Senior Instructor at DCT. With an MBA in International Hospitality from The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Elham has had an extensive career at Jumeirah Group. She was selected to be part of the Future Leader Program that allowed her to experience different departments such as: Rooms Division, Food & Beverage, Events Operations and Human Resources. She has worked in properties such as the Burj Al Arab, Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Jumeirah Port Soller in Mallorca, Spain. She was awarded The Rising Star at the 2017 Middle East Hospitality Awards. Elham moved on to work in Retail at Dubai Mall looking after all Food & Beverage, health and beauty outlets as a Senior Retail Relations Manager. 

Miles is the Owner and Director of Definitive Hospitality, a restaurant and hospitality solutions company in Dubai, and is a hospitality professional with over 16 years’ experience in food and beverage establishments with a focus on new openings, menu development, budgeting, costing, recruitment, and training & development. Having worked in esteemed and popular establishments such as the Els Club, Dubai Golf and Fortnum and Mason, Miles has extensive experience in ensuring the delivery of the highest levels of customer service. He is also a keen Competition Boxer, Marathon Runner, Skier, and Motor Sports fanatic.

With over 20 years’ experience in the business events industry, Kylee has worked for prominent organisations including the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Jumeirah Group, Arabian Adventures, MCI group and Congress Solutions International (part of the Emirates Group). She is an industry expert in event strategy, conceptualization, business development, marketing, planning and operations who has successfully bid, won, and delivered over 300 congresses, conferences, incentives, exhibitions and events.A graduate from Griffith University in Australia with a Bachelor of Business majoring in Event Management and Hotel Management, Kylee has lived in the UAE since May 2008. Kylee is part of our Events faculty.

Nikoleta Hroncova is the Hospitality Programme Lead at DCT and brings a wealth of professional knowledge and experience to the college.

Prior to joining the college, she worked as a Hospitality Lecturer with Les Roches Jing Jiang International Hotel Management College in Shanghai for 4 years.  Her own hotel career began in Orlando, Florida working for Vacation Resorts International. She moved on to spend 5 years with St Regis Hotels and Resorts in guest relations and front office management in Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Shanghai.

Nikoleta holds a First Class Degree BA (Hons) in International Tourism Management from the University of Bedfordshire, Business School in the United Kingdom as well as an MBA in Global Hospitality Management (Distinction) from Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, Switzerland and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Hotel Management from Les Roches International Hotel Management College, Shanghai.

Becky has lived in Dubai since 2008 and has worked on many high-profile events including What’s On Awards, Gulf Business Industry Awards, Business Traveller Middle East Awards, and Emirates Woman 'Woman of the Year' Awards. Having graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Events Management, her expertise lies in event delivery, corporate sponsorship management, new business development, supplier relations, event budget control, team management and client care. She also has extensive experience in managing event sponsorship activations including the Dubai Desert Classic, HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, Omega Dubai Ladies Masters Golf tournaments and the Dubai Rugby 7s. 

Priyanka is a Student Well-being Lead, an Instructor and an Academic Advisor at DCT. She has over 16 years of experience in learning and development with various industries in India and Middle East in designing, developing, and delivering a variety of development and growth pathways for individuals. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology and a Post Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management, from the prestigious XLRI, India. Priyanka is also ACC-ICF Certified Life Coach and uses her knowledge and skills to develop a nurturing, supportive and inclusive environment at the college while also supports the students by providing them with personal counseling and coaching services. Priyanka is a life-long student and is always curious to explore and learn more about human behaviour. She also loves cooking, singing, reading and writing blogs in her free time.

Sally is a passionate Events and Marketing professional with a track record for creating successful campaigns and events for the world’s most renowned consumer brands. With a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s (CIM), Sally has worked on planning and promoting events for world famous brands such as Adidas, Atlantis Dubai, Levi’s, Volkswagen and the Dubai Marathon.

Lucy Mousa is a franchise owner of Travel Counsellors, Dubai. Before launching her own travel consultancy in 2017, she worked for over 12 years in Customer Service and Sales roles for well known hotel brands in Dubai; Marriott International, Intercontinental and Hilton.

Olivia is the Academic Director of Dubai College of Tourism, and has been involved since the college's inception, contributing to its overall strategy, planning and design. Prior to this, Olivia worked for 6 years as a management consultant in the Educational and Skills Consulting division of global advisory firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers in their Dubai office, as well as in the Talent and Organisation team of global technology consulting firm Accenture in London. She has advised a range of governments and large multinational companies on change management strategies as well as developed innovative learning programmes. Olivia is also a qualified teacher in England & Wales having completed the prestigious Teach First programme, before later becoming a Trustee.  Olivia completed her MA in Geography and Education at Cambridge University and is dedicated to providing young people with world class educational and vocational opportunities that will help them go on to have challenging and rewarding careers.

Nishaat is an Instructor, the Events Programme Lead and an Academic Advisor at DCT. Prior to this, she worked with the Education and Skills division of PWC in Dubai for 3 years where she managed projects that provided strategy development and implementation support to public and private sector entities operating within the Academic and Vocational Educational Sectors in the Middle East. A BSc Economics graduate, Nishaat has also worked for the World Bank in Pakistan, and as an International Credential Evaluator for World Education Services in the United States, where she also completed her Masters in International and Comparative Education at Stanford University. Nishaat is an avid traveller, always keen to experience new cultures and environments, especially new cuisines!

Jeff joined the Dubai College of Tourism, a unique initiative from Dubai Tourism, to enhance the tourism proposition through a number of grass-roots human capital enablement initiatives. Prior to this, Jeff had a sixteen-year career with Marriott International, where he was Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Middle East and Africa, responsible for then portfolio of 41 hotels. From 2005, Jeff was integral in opening more than 18 hotels across Middle East and Africa. In 2013 Jeff became the owner of Cambodia-based boutique hotel, Maison557, and a founding shareholder in Ayana Journeys, an ethical and responsible tour operator, also based in Cambodia. A Graduate from West of Scotland College and University of Liverpool, Jeff worked in Spain, London and Manchester before relocating to Dubai in 2000. Jeff has written in published future looking research for Phocuswright and the oft-cited Future of Travel in the GCC report (2014) commissioned for Amadeus.

Manzar is a retail business professional with 25+ years of global experience across the industry spectrum of Consumer Electronics, Fashion, Perfumes, Pharmaceutical in the areas of Sales, Business Development, and Strategic Business Planning.
In his tenure as Retail Manager in Eros group, he led a team of 200+ staff members including Regional Managers, Store Managers and support staff to increase revenues and profitability. He also contributed to the streamlining of product team operations to ensure effective delivery of marketing and sales solutions. This led to him winning the category of Electronic Retailer under the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
He is currently pursuing his passion of teaching and mentoring at Dubai College of Tourism.

Soraya Elsayed is a Microsoft Certificated Educator (MCE)  and an Adobe Certified Professional in Visual Communication  And Video Design. As an engineering degree graduate and with a Diploma in Graphic Design, she always had a passion for design and technology and wanted to share this with others. She gained her Professional Diploma in Teaching and is now experienced in teaching design & technology, creative thinking & innovation, Advanced Microsoft Office and graphic design softwares. She also prepares clients and students to get certified and succeed in the International Exams ICDL, IC3, MOS: MS Word Expert level, Excel Expert Level, Power point, MS access and Outlook.

Having always had a passion for events, Natalie founded TEC event management in 2008. Today, the business is a full-service event management agency that operates throughout the Middle East and North Africa region. With a head oce and 5,000 sq.ft warehouse located in Dubai, TEC currently employs a team of over twenty five Event Managers and Creatives. It has become a trusted partner to a range of clients that include HSBC, Visa, Sephora, Cisco, and DHL. Natalie has also had the privilege of working with many talented and inspirational people including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Kahn, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, former Mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg and the international rock band The Rolling Stones.

Her passion and commitment to the events industry has led her to provide many internships to aspiring students in her company and to guest speak at university’s and business conferences across Europe and in the Middle East.

Sally Handoko, joins DCT as our Chef Instructor for Baking and Patisserie. She comes with a wealth of experience having worked in many 5 star luxury hotels; Four Seasons Jakarta, Fairmont Dubai, and JW Marriot Hotel and as an Executive Pastry Chef in Conrad Dubai. Prior to joining DCT, she worked as an instructor with ICCA, International Center for Culinary Arts in Dubai. Sally’s other great passion in life after pastry, is keeping fit and she is a keen kickboxer.

Gerhard Gendrano is a highly skilled chef and an accomplished culinary instructor having served as a Culinary Director for the Global Academy in the Philipines for 10 years before moving to Dubai in 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management and a Diploma in Culinary Arts and Technology Management.

In 2017, Gerhard won the Chef of the Year award at the Philippine Culinary Cup for winning gold medals across seven categories, at the same time he also captained the school to win the third overall award for winning the most medals across the entire culinary cup. His success as a culinary director & team captain earned him a spot to represent and win medals for the Philippines at the Food Hotel Asia in Singapore and the Ultimate Chef Challenge in Thailand. Upon his return, Gerhard was nominated to train as a WACS Competition Judge and a WACS Certified Culinary Educator.

Throughout his career, Gerhard worked in a range of F&B service operations across different types of establishments. He started his career in restaurant and catering operations and held several managerial roles in different hotel chains such as Dusit Thani Hotel, Hyatt Hotel & Casino and Resorts World before moving to academe.

Gerhard is a passionate educator & strongly believes in a holistic approach, mentoring the next generation of chefs to thrive and build a more sustainable F&B industry. Having a good work ethic, credibility and being collaborative are the things he values in a work environment.

He is a father of 2 boys and also married to a chef, and enjoys traveling with his family and spending time outdoors.