Six hundred staff had to work 20-hour days at the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea in Jordan to cater for 1,200 delegates at a recent special meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The hotel had just a few weeks to prepare for the three days of discussions on the peace process in the Middle East that attracted high-ranking politicians, monarchs and business leaders from around the world, including King Abdullah II of Jordan, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"The organisation entailed was immense. No less than four Hercules aircraft brought materials to us from Europe, 5km of cables were laid and 400 computers were connected up in our hotel," said general manager Edgar Solenthaler. "We served 1,100 dishes to the delegates every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner."