Lee Tabler
Chief Executive Officer
Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC)


“In providing a vision for TDIC aligned under Abu Dhabi’s broader objectives, I am dedicated to accentuating our position in the marketplace. I ensure that the company’s ambitious plans and policies are delivered professionally and successfully from well-devised strategies through to detailed operational management.”

Lee Tabler, from Southern California, has more than 30 years international real estate development experience. He has led numerous projects with major blue chip organisations across the hospitality, Industrial, commercial, infrastructure and urban development, investment and tourism segments.

He launched his career as a young architect in Vienna, Austria and later received his on-site experience as an assistant project manager for a large mixed use industrial/commercial project in Iran. He later moved on to the hospitality industry where he developed large-scale hotels, resorts and mixed-used facilities with Marriott Corporation based in Washington DC and with InterContinental Hotels Group, based in London with responsibilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region followed by several years with Bechtel International as Vice President of Buildings, Urban Development, Infrastructure and Entertainment initially for Asia Pacific and then Europe, Africa, Middle East and South West Asia.

Prior to kicking off TDIC, Lee was an advisor to the Saudi Economic Development Corporation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and created Al Futtaim Investments in Dubai, developers of large, mixed-use projects such as Dubai Festival City and New Cairo City in Egypt.

Having been a founding member and past chairman of the Middle East Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Lee is now chairman of ULI’s Middle East centre. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centres, the International Real Estate Investment Council, the US Real Estate Commission and the Asia Society in Hong Kong and New York.

Lee studied architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, urban and regional planning in France, and real estate finance at American University in Washington DC, USA.

Lee is married to Susan, an attorney and together they have two daughters and have been living in the UAE for 10 years. He has a keen interest in the arts and theatre combined with a bold sense of adventure. He is an avid mountain climber, summiting the tallest peaks in North America, Africa, Europe and Nepal/Tibet. Along with his wife and daughters, he enjoys scuba diving, skiing, big game fishing and photography.