About
ÉLAN was founded on a simple observation.
Most hotels don’t lack a story. They lack one that holds together. Brand, PR, social, partnerships and e-commerce are often run as separate efforts, each with its own agency, its own calendar and its own measure of success. Guests feel the gaps long before a report shows them.
ÉLAN was created to close those gaps.
Shaped by nearly a decade inside Hilton, Marriott, Waldorf Astoria, Raffles, Fairmont and Chiva-Som, from London and Dubai to Doha, ÉLAN brings the thinking of an in-house marketing director to every engagement. We sit close to ownership and leadership, understand the commercial pressure behind each decision, and plan every channel around one direction.
The strongest hotel brands are rarely built by a single campaign. They are built by consistency: a clear position, a story told the same way at every touchpoint, and a path from first discovery to direct booking that never loses the guest along the way.
That is the work we do. Not as an agency handing over a deck, but as a partner accountable to the numbers that matter: occupancy, rate, share of voice and the revenue that comes direct.
Our Story
Founder / CEO
Michalis Kiotis
Born in Thessaloniki, Michalis came to hospitality by way of a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in forestry and environmental engineering at Aristotle University, before a Master’s in Hotel Management at Les Roches, Marbella, majoring in marketing and communications.
His career has taken him through Dubai, London and Doha. At Marriott London Grosvenor Square, the hotel became Marriott’s most successful London property in the ‘Memories Made at Marriott’ meetings programme in 2019. At Waldorf Astoria Lusail he led e-commerce and PR through pre-opening, building one of Qatar’s top five hotel social media presences and a 9:1 return on Expedia Travel Ads.
As Cluster Senior Digital & Brand Marketing Manager for Raffles Doha and Fairmont Doha, he guided two of the country’s most anticipated hotels through opening. Raffles Doha was named by Forbes Travel Guide among the top five hotel Instagram accounts in the world, average daily rate closed 22% above budget, and the hotels’ Ramadan campaign was named Best Ramadan Marketing Activation by Time Out Doha.
Today he is Marketing Director at Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som, where direct bookings have grown 73% year on year with a return of 18 to 1 on targeted advertising.
ÉLAN carries that experience to hotels ready for their next chapter: the discipline of a brand-standard marketing office, with the attention of a partner who stays until the results arrive.
Connect with meThe path so far
- 2025 – Now Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som Marketing Director · Qatar +73% direct bookings
- 2022 – 2025 Raffles Doha & Fairmont Doha Cluster Senior Digital & Brand Marketing Manager · Pre-opening ADR 22% above budget
- 2020 – 2022 Waldorf Astoria Lusail Doha Marketing, E-commerce & PR Manager · Pre-opening 9:1 Expedia ROI
- 2018 – 2020 Marriott London Grosvenor Square Assistant Marketing Manager · London $86.5k added display revenue
- 2017 – 2018 Hilton Hotels Sales & Marketing Management Trainee · Dubai & Doha +52% social following
“A motivated, forward-thinking person and a modern marketer, with great knowledge of digital and e-commerce marketing.”
Mahmud Higazy · General Manager, Hilton
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