Sumaira Isaacs – Regional Managing Director – Canada, India & The Middle East Region
Sumaira is a true veteran in the Meetings Industry with over 23 years of experience in the Middle East market alone. She incorporated MCI Middle East offices and is the Managing Director for the Middle East, India and Canada region. Ever since its inception, Sumaira has been responsible for articulating the regional strategy for MCI. Under her leadership, there have been number of successful executions and these have included planning and executing over 1000 mandates over the years. Sumaira has built a community of like-minded people and is one of the pioneers in building industry associations which include, IAPCO, MPI, SITE and ICCA in the region. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE), a Chicago head-quartered organization for industry professionals. Her international knowledge, combined with the local insights and experience over the years makes her a very valuable contributor to the growth and development of the meetings industry in the regions. 

Sumaira is also a prolific painter, who in the past has had sold out Art Exhibitions and continues to remain passionate in expressing her creative side through a Paint brush!

Ajay Bhojwani – Deputy Managing Director –The Middle East Region
With an MBA in Marketing from University of Wollongong, Australia, having lived in Dubai for 25 years, Ajay has witnessed the changes in the Middle East and seen the region grow into what it is today. A veteran in the events industry in the Middle East region, has spent significant amount of time working with market research organisations like AC Nielsen, NFO Merac, etc. - looked into various consumer trends and buying behaviour for various industries. His decade old experience spans his work with IIR Exhibitions and Global Management Consultants, before he joined MCI. The meetings industry is the one he now calls home - having been around in this industry for several years. He has successfully helped conceptualize, produce, and manage many conferences,  successfully lobbied with government authorities and launched several conferences that are still run today - in our ever emerging region that include Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia. A professional conference person by skill-set, he has been instrumental in cultivating new accounts and servicing the existing institutional accounts for MCI. In his current capacity he is driving the regional expansion of MCI in the Middle East, which includes opening offices in new markets, expanding business in the existing markets and developing a fast paced 21st century team.

A keen sport fan, Ajay loves outdoor sport of any kind but admits to a soft spot for football! He does play football with passion and is a Real Madrid’s number one flag bearer in the office.

Alexander John – Regional Director - Business Development, India & The Middle East Region
With over 15 years of hospitality management experience, he is part of the pioneering team of MCI’s Middle East initiative. He leads the business development effort in the corporate Division for MCI in the India and the Middle East region. MCI’s corporate division has grown to work with two of the major industries, i.e. Health Care and ICT. MCI’s corporate division has executed number of mandates both here in the UAE as well as in other GCC countries such as Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. Alex started his career with the Taj Group in India and moved to Dubai in 2000 where he worked with Jumeirah Group and assisted with the opening of the following properties, Madinat Jumeirah and Essex House in New York. He was also the Chapter President of Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE UAE). Alex is also a member of MPI and IAPCO the professional associations that represent the meetings industry. Alex is passionate about the outdoors and involves himself in many adventure activities while exploring and travelling to various parts of the world.

Tarnbir Kaur, CAE - Director- Association Management & Consulting - The Middle East Region.
Tarnbir is responsible for leading the Association Management and Consulting practice. Her association expertise combined with regional market knowledge has been instrumental in leading strategic assessments for various international associations looking to expand into new markets. She has been also instrumental in helping associations understand the complexities of business in Asia and helping them grow in the region with strategies tailored for the region. She has been invited to participate in several Strategic Meetings of global associations due to her knowledge and insights within the industry. An Indian national, Tarnbir has an MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis Institute, Pune, India and a Masters in Economics from Pune University, India. She is a Certified Association Executive and is an active member of Australian Association of Association Executives. Tarnbir is currently leading an India market analysis and business plan for the American Marketing Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers. She recently completed a similar project for the American College of Physicians who is opening an India office with MCI in 2012.
With a curiosity to venture, learn about cultures and regions – travel is always on her cards!!

Clifford Fernandes – Regional Director - Finance & HR - MCI Canada, Middle East & India
Clifford had previously worked for prestigious organizations like the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa (DUTCO Group) and Madinat Jumeirah (Jumeirah Group). He is a highly motivated and results driven finance manager who has over 20 years of invaluable experience in leading and developing a successful finance team. Skilled in numerous financial and accounting fields, including: preparing annual budgets, monitoring key accounts and credit control. Having the ability to handle complex assignments effectively & possessing the confidence to work as part of a team. Working a busy and high volume environment driving consistency and best practice across all the regions he manages. Responsible for improving the company’s cash flow and reducing its arrears. Clifford has been part of the core pre-opening team that started MCI Middle East. He is also an accomplished human resources professional with valuable experience in all areas of human resources currently looking after all areas of talent sourcing ensures that MCI has the right talent for the right job!!
A die hard sports fan – Clifford follows football and cricket. Time permitting he grabs a quick game of football with his buddies.

Prem Vadassery – Director Operations – The Middle East Region
As Director of Operations, Prem incorporates almost twenty years of industry experience in handling Middle Eastern destination management, royal and corporate events into MCI’s Meetings and Events, PCO and Ovation Arabia. Since becoming part of MCI’s team in Dubai, he has streamlined operational procedures to ensure seamless quality assurance standards are kept at their highest level. Prem has handled key clientele’s large events, be their corporate events or medical congresses, across the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, with the largest of these events catering to 12000 people.  Responsible for establishing divisional strategic plans, he leads the operational team from event inception to final wrap-up, maximizing resource efficiency and client satisfaction. Prem’s well-rounded and genuine understanding of operational set-up and procedure stems from his steady tenure in Oman as well as in MICE at Arabian Adventures (a division of Emirates Airlines), and as Head of Events for the Engineer’s Office of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s private events and royal weddings.