International conference organisation Bench Events, has appointed two new members of staff to spearhead the development and launch of new events worldwide.

Ocean Belcher and Daria Kashurina will be tasked initially with the launch of the Global Restaurant Investment Forum.

This inaugural event for the restaurant and hospitality community takes place on March 11th-12th 2014 at the Conrad, Dubai and will be the meeting place for investors, hoteliers, owners, lenders, F&B brands, restaurant concepts, franchisors, franchisees, suppliers and other key industry professionals from across EMEA.

Belcher will focus on speaker acquisition and programming support for GRIF.

Originally from New Zealand she moved to Europe to work for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

She will also be working on development of the Turkey & Neighbours Hotel Investment Conference (CATHIC), which returns to Istanbul for the fourth year running on June 9th-10th 2014 at the newly opened Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Centre.

Kashurina’s primary role will be launching regional briefings for the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference (RHIC) in addition to undertaking business sales in the Russian market.

She has significant international experience, having worked at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, The Ritz Carlton Moscow, and the InterContinental London Park Lane and is currently completing her studies at École hôtelière de Lausanne.

Jonathan Worsley, chairman, Bench Events, said: “We are delighted to be able to add such fantastic international experience to our team.

“Ocean and Daria will add a whole new dimension of the development of our business in the Turkish, Russian and Middle Eastern markets.”