Rabih Mokbel
Rabih Mokbel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 26, 1986 Jeddah- Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Citizenship | Lebanon |
| Education | Bachelor’s in Business Management |
| Alma mater | American University in Dubai |
| Years active | 2010 - present |
| Organization | Venture Lifestyle |
| Known for | Event management |
| Parents |
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| Website | venturelifestyle |
Rabih Mokbel (born January 26, 1986, in Jeddah- Saudi Arabia) is an event entrepreneur based in the Middle East.[1] He is the founder and current chairman of Venture Lifestyle; one of the top event management and concept creation companies in Egypt. With an eye to detail and unique ideas, Mokbel is known for his lavish, state-of-the art events and considered as a lifestyle guru.
Mokbel has been widely covered by the high-tier media as the man behind organizing, promoting and conducting some of the biggest parties and events in Egypt and the Middle East. His creative intelligence in utilizing extensive expertise and producing original concepts has resulted in the modernization of a culturally rich community. He is considered to be an expert when it comes to experiential marketing and engaging the audience.
Mokbel is the face behind trailblazing events such as J.Lo's first-ever concert in Egypt, Black Coffee's Egypt debut, among other private, high-profile events and VIP parties. It was J.Lo and Black Coffee's first time ever to perform in Egypt. He has played a pivotal role in organizing The Gouna Film Festival opening and closing parties and several Formula 1 parties in collaboration with FLASH entertainment- UAE.
Identity Magazine has called him, The Man on a Mission for his work in the entertainment industry in Egypt. Mokbel is also a contributing writer for Entrepreneur magazine.[2]
Career
Mokbel started his career at the age of 15. He was a waiter at Palm Beach Hotel in Lebanon, where he charmed his superiors with his natural demeanor and skill sets. Other hotels including Four Seasons, Movenpick, Riviera soon started to headhunt him. His language proficiency in Arabic, English, and French helped in getting early success.
Mokbel graduated from the American University in Dubai with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, then completed another degree in Hospitality & Hotel Management, which honed him and helped Mokbel excel in the hospitality industry. He got promoted in a span of 4 years from Front Office Manager at the Riviera Hotel to a 5-star luxury resort - Movenpick Hotel.
After working for four years in this high-end resort, Mokbel had just the right experience to completely shift his career to start working as a Supervisor in Beirut’s, number one nightlife destination, Sky Bar and went on to become “General Manager.” Sky Bar played a significant role in Mokbel’s professional as well as personal life. This life altering job broadened his horizons. In his serving time at Sky Bar, he made great connections in the Arabic Entertainment field.
In 2009, Mokbel moved to Egypt and launched Sky Bar. He worked with Yassin Mansour, Egyptian billionaire businessman, part-owner of the Mansour Group, and chairman of Palm Hills Developments, one of Egypt's largest real estate developers.[3] In 2010, an uprising occurred causing major setbacks and Sky Bar had to be shut down in Egypt. Mokbel perceived this experience as a good opportunity that led him to explore the Egyptian market for future projects.[4]
His professional career accelerated almost immediately after his successful implementation of modernised event concepts, which were fairly new to the Egyptian culture.[5]
Mokbel managed the operations of Formula 1s’ parties for three consecutive years with Flash Abu Dhabi. He was moving between UAE, Beirut and Egypt for a while. He returned to Beirut and continued working with Flash on Formula 1, where he witnessed huge artist performances. Mokbel decided to quit in 2011, having a bigger vision and enthusiasm to get out of the employee loop.[6]
He focused on his own projects, launching five places in Uruguay Street in Beirut.[7] He started off with Bronx Restaurant & Bar, followed by Zumi Restaurant and Bar and a catering company called Citron Caviar.
The business was good while it lasted. Due to major economic fluctuations of the Lebanese market at that time, it eventually became an intense battle for survival, but after a lot of struggle, Mokbel decided to shut down all his businesses and move to Egypt at the beginning of 2017 to partner with Venture Group- Beirut and to launch Venture Lifestyle- Egypt.[8]
Today, Mokbel also owns a boutique restaurant in Lebanon called Em Ali. He will be soon opening a franchise in Egypt and the MENA region, with his business partners, Marwan Ayoub, Taimeir Abdelrazak, and Mina Tadros.
Venture Lifestyle
Solely owned by Rabih Mokbel and managed by partners Mina Tadros and Taimeir Abdelrazak, Venture Lifestyle is one of the top event management and concept creation companies in Egypt. Venture Lifestyle’s introduction of unique concepts and their successful implementation has been one of the major reasons for a drastic change in the music scene in Egypt.[9]
Three years and counting, Venture Lifestyle continues to flourish and expand. Venture Group and Venture Lifestyle- Egypt currently create more than 11,000 job opportunities and generate an average annual sales turnover of USD 90 million having an annual footfall of more than 5 million visitors.[10] Additionally, Venture Lifestyle has retained its empire by constantly seeking undiscovered modernisms keeping them one step ahead at all times.
Mokbel has ventured into the nightlife industry, managing and overseeing Egypt’s very first cutting-edge beach club - Seacode Beach Club, and El Bahr Seafood Restaurant in the North Coast.[11] Correspondingly, he has also opened Code Restaurant and Bar at Dusit Thani Lake View Hotel in Cairo, Noi Italian Restaurant in El Gouna, Red Sea, and Seacode Mangroovy Beach in El Gouna.[12]
Not only is Mokbel leaving his mark in the Music industry in Egypt, but he has diverted the world’s attention towards Egypt’s huge potential and caught international attention.[13] One of the greatest hits was Jennifer Lopez’s performance in “It’s My Party Tour.” Through Venture Lifestyle, Mokbel is expected to soon invite the fashion icon, Nicolas Jebran to Egypt, adding new ideas to the fashion segment.[14]
Events
Mokbel is an entertainment entrepreneur who has brought several international performances to the country. Some of the names include
- Bedouin
- Tale Of Us
- El Gouna Film Festival Opening After Party— Ft. Tre Tenori, DJ Rodge, Elissar Belly Dancer
- G-Bash Gary Pine, Nayer, Super Sako, Maya Belly Dancer & DJ Alain
- Solomun
- Black Coffee
- DJ Rodge
- Tyga, Inna & Nelly
- Boiler Room
- Seth Troxler
- Disco El Nejoum X Redbull Ft.Disco Misr, Ihab Tawfik, Moustafa Amar, Hossam Hosni & Hani Adel
- The Martinez Bros.
- Deborah De Luca
- Nagwa Zahran Fashion Show
- Peggy Gou
- Jennifer Lopez—It’s My Party Tour
- Mano Le Tough
- Marco Carola
- El Gouna Film Festival Closing After Party Ft. O By Michel Fadel
- Nicolas Jebran Fashion Show X Emaar
- Loco Dice
- New Years’ Eve 9 Ft. The Gypsy Kings, Fabrica Musical & Ahmed El Ruby
- The Heat Wave Ft. Silento, Mann & Lumidee
- Assala Ft. Moutafa Shawki
- Joseph Capriati
Upcoming Events
- Maluma
- Artbat
- Maceo Plex
- Akon
- Paco Osuna
- Adriatique
- Celine Dion
Personal life
Mokbel’s father was a self-made businessman and was the initial inspiration for Mokbel’s career path. He started to monitor his father’s work early on at the age of four and when he turned ten, he started working at one of his cafeterias learning the ropes of F&B industry.
Later, society had a strong influence over Mokbel. Living in different parts of the Middle East, moving between Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt—where he currently resides—Mokbel had a clear vision of the Middle Eastern market and its wide customer base. The F&B industry, Hospitality, and Hotel Management are key players in the Middle Eastern industry; they played a huge part in Mokbel’s life and daily routine therefore motivating him to innovate and further delve into his passion.
In his free time, Mokbel likes to travel, play basketball, Ping pong, and skydive. He has two dogs Shakira and Corona.
In the media
References
- ↑ Elsayed, Raghda (2019-09-08). "Meet Rabih Mokbel: The Man on a Mission to Change the Arabic Entertainment Scene". Identity Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ Mokbel, Rabih. "Rabih Mokbel". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "AAIB attracting foreign sights: Jennifer Lopez makes first appearance in New Alamein City". EgyptToday. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "ربيع مقبل صاحب رؤية مستقبلية متميزة". ElleArabia (in العربية). Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "Who is Jennifer Lopez's favourite designer? That would be Lebanon's Zuhair Murad". Emirates Woman. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "Hospitality in inhospitable times - Executive Magazine". Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "'I love Zuhair,' J. Lo gushes about Lebanon's designer to the stars". Arab News. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "Jennifer Lopez evokes Egyptian outrage post her North Coast performance". Daily News Egypt. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "AAIB attracting foreign sights: Jennifer Lopez makes first appearance in New Alamein City". EgyptToday. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "SEE Interviews Man Behind JLO's Alamein Party". Sada El balad. 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "The New Sahel Hot-Spot That Offers Every Type of Beachside Experience". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ West, Cairo (2019-04-30). "CODE at Dusit Thani Lakeview Cairo". Cairo West Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ "Watch Jennifer Lopez Speak in Arabic, and Share on Her First-Ever Concert in Egypt". Vogue Arabia. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ↑ BronMehta (2019-08-04). "Rabih Mockbel". eniGma Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
External links
- Official website
- Rabih Mokbel on Facebook
- Rabih Mokbel on Youtube
- Rabih Mokbel on Linkedin