Ghadair Alshemari
Co-founder, HayaRest Hospitality Consultancy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Master of International Hospitality Management
Bachelor of Business in Sales
Diploma in Event Management
She loves sharing her passion for the hospitality industry with others, says Ghadair Alshemari who studied event management, business and hospitality management, and is now based in Dubai where she has co-founded HayaRest Hospitality Consultancy.
“Our mission is to build talents and diversity for the hospitality industry, and provide assistance to everyone working in the hospitality business, regardless of whether they are employed in a restaurant, a hotel or a café.
“At HayaRest Hospitality Consultancy, we offer services from business strategy and mystery shopping to human resource recruitment and training. I love supporting businesses at different levels, and getting to see the end results. Seeing the success of a business makes me happy.”
Memories of AUT
For Ghadair, the journey towards the successful career she has today started with enrolling at AUT to pursue her passion for events.
“I was working in a sales role when I decided to apply for night classes in the AUT event management diploma. After graduating in 2009, I realised that opening my own business would be a great opportunity. I thought that pursuing a business degree would help me reach that goal, so enrolled in AUT’s Bachelor of Business. Later on, I discovered that hospitality was an unexpected bonus and matched with my passion and personality, so returned to AUT for postgraduate study in hospitality.”
She still has fond memories of her time at AUT.
“I had the privilege of being taught by lecturers who truly made the learning experience engaging. Being an AUT student also opened up numerous opportunities for me, including the opportunity to work at AUT when I began my business degree. AUT has always made me feel welcomed and given me a sense of belonging. What I’ve learnt throughout my studies has always been up to date with everything in the world, and the skills I’ve developed at AUT have helped me advance rapidly in my career.”
Advice for other students
Ghadair has some great advice for other students who are only at the start of their university journey.
“My time at AUT seemed like the beginning of many steps on a long journey, preparing me for anything from future foreign travel and employment to the possibility of starting my own business.
“You might think of AUT as a kind of ‘university of life’, so make sure you take full advantage of everything that AUT has to offer. The things I've done and seen, as well as the activities and seminars I've attended outside of classes while I was at AUT, have all contributed to the person I am today.”
